Trials and Error
by I.will.drink.this.coffee
Summary: Laughter, heartbreak, and ridiculous romances have been constants in Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio's lives. Sure, throughout the years it seems to get tougher but they're sure they can crack the code. Three boys with major homosexual tendencies against the world? Bring it on! Spamano/Prucan/Usuk/Formerly titled:Kind Of Homo
1. Chapter 1

**_Kind of Homo: Chapter One_**

 _Age 5_

Antonio adjusted the towel draped over his head and tighten his grip on the daisies they had quickly picked from the backyard. He bobbed his head back and forth and bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for Gilbert to finish reading the script that Francis scribbled out for him.

"Francis, will...you take Toni to be your wife...blah blah blah…. Will you cherish his frogship and love-"

"Frogship?" Francis broke his gaze from Antonio and raised his eyebrows at their third member. "What the heck is a frogship?'

Gilbert held up the paper and shook it in the blonde's face. "That's what you wrote! Frogship!"

The young Spaniard glanced between the two as they continued bantering about it. "Lemme see! Lemme see!" He stepped off the stool he was previously standing on and snagged the paper from Gil's hand. "Yeah, it does say frogship!"

Francis let out an annoyed huff and crossed his arms, his slightly longer than average hair falling into his eyes. "It says _friendship_ you dummies."

The albino rolled his maroon shaded eyes and grabbed the paper out of Toni's hands. Antonio chuckled softly at the situation, "Francis you have really bad handwriting." He giggled lightheartedly as he crawled back onto the stool so he was eye level with the French boy.

A smile tugged at Francis' lips and he placed his hands on his hips. "Well at least I can actually spell my name."

Antonio scratched his head awkwardly, the towel now resting on his shoulders. "Hey your name is shorter than mine!"

Gilbert impatiently shook his head and sat down on the carpet. "Yeah he's right! No wait… F-R-A-N-C-I-S.." He slowly counted the letters then did the same with Antonio's name. After doing so, his eyes lit up and he bounced up onto his feet. "Stupid Tonio! Both of your names have seven letters!"

Francis just grinned, as if he was the one who just discovered this. Despite having just been insulted more than once, Antonio just placed the white towel on top of his wavy locks again, and cocked his head to the right. "How many letters are in _churros_?"

Gilbert lazily shrugged and glanced at the paper again. "Dunno. I can only spell some words. Come on, ask me to spell 'awesome'!"

Francis' arms instantly flopped to his sides and he threw his head back in frustration. Antonio only smiled wider, exposing his pearly whites and one missing front tooth. "How do you spell awesome?"

Gilbert's eyes gleamed like the character's did in the anime they would occasionally watch with Kiku. He thrust one finger in the air as his other hand crushed the forgotten script. "A-W-E-S-O-M-E!"

Antonio began clapping rapidly, and Francis clapped politely looking somewhat amused now. "That was very cute Gil," he mused.

Antonio nodded in agreement. " _Si._ "

Gilbert tossed the paper ball behind his head and Francis shrugged in defeat. "Yeah, I know I'm adorable." He flashed a smile and did a single finger gun at them. "Now lets get down to this wedding business loserssss!"

Antonio reached down to retrieve the daisies that he had long forgotten about. Francis leaned over from his stool and lightly ruffled his Spanish friend's hair. "Why don't we? I was starting to think you didn't want to marry me and that just didn't make any sense."

Antonio widened his eyes. "Of course I want to marry you Francy!"

The awaiting coupled turned toward the light haired boy who now stood ready. "Okay then! Let's skip the stupid boring, mushy stuff! You can kiss and stuff now!"

Francis sighed, " _Mon ami,_ please say it right."

Gilbert raised a brow. "But I did! If I say it a certain way, that's the right way!"

Antonio peered out from under the towel and fiddled with the flower in hand. "But all the movies say 'You may now kiss the bride'."

Gilbert waved his hand. "Nah," he said, finally noticing Toni's Paw Patrol shirt and getting instantly jealous. "Just kiss guys!"

The other two boys glanced at each other and simultaneously shrugged. With Antonio still holding his flowers, Francis leaned forward and placed a sweet, chaste peck on his lips. "Yay! We're married now!" The brunette concluded and tossed his flowers in the air.

Still eyeing the Paw Patrol shirt, the German stepped forward and held up a peace sign. "Well I hope you enjoyed it buttheads, cause now it's my turn to marry Toni!"

Said Spaniard nodded his head but sat down on the stool and wiped his forehead with the towel, as if getting married twice in a day was an exhausting process. "I like being the bride." he breathed out and pulled his legs up. "I like kissing boys!"

The other two followed his example and plopped down too, but shared amused looks at his statement. Francis grabbed his cup of water off the shelf and took a sip before answering, "Yeah I do too. But do you ever want to kiss a girl."

Antonio glanced up at the ceiling in thought while Gilbert instantly said "NO!"

"Why?" both Antonio and Francis urged.

Gilbert held his hands up with wide eyes. "Wow you guys are stupid. Girls are gross and have cooties and they are just stupid. I would kiss a hundred boys before I kiss a girl." He closed his eyes in confirmation then shot them open just as quick. "Except Eli. I would never kiss that butt muncher."

Francis cocked his head to the side. "Eli…?"

Antonio shook his head causing his wavy hair to flap around. "Eli's a girl."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and laid down on the floor, propping his head up with his hands. "Yeah he throws like one. Anyways, what about you Churro Guy?"

"OH!" Antonio nearly shouted when he realized he was being addressed. He cupped his chin and looked at the ceiling. He thought of the different girls in his class ranging from Emma to Natalia. He always thought Emma was cute, but he never even desired to hold her hand. And Natalia was always chasing Ivan down on the playground, so he stayed clear of her. Then there was Feliks who really liked dressing like a girl…. "Hmm nah. I haven't. I like this game with you guys."

"See?" Gilbert smiled sitting up and patting Antonio on the back. "We're the coolest!"

Gil's smile grew contagious and they quickly found it on Toni's face as well. A light bulb appeared over his head and he gasped before saying, "Hey I have an idea! If when we all grow up we never meet anyone, we can all marry each other!"

Seeming to like his mindset, Gilbert nodded and gave him a high five so hard even Francis winced. After giving Antonio a second to rub the sore spot, the blonde shook his head. "I'm afraid not guys." His two clueless naive friends turned toward him and he continued before they started whining, "Getting married is for two people only. So no matter how much I love you guys I couldn't marry both of you."

He flipped his hair out of his eyes and continued, "And I know you would both love to marry me because I'm super handsome but I am already reserved for someone."

"Who?" Antonio leaned forward.

Francis shrugged. "Whoever steals my heart in the future!" he sang into the air and then gave a smug look at the others. "But I dunno who will wanna marry you guys so you two should get married."

Gilbert stood up in a flash and before any of the other two could process it, Francis was laying on the floor with a spilled cup of water on his stomach while a laughing Gil was pulling Antonio to his feet. "That's what we're trying to do!" the albino chuckled while swinging his and his his potential wife's hands.

"Hey!" Francis pouted, standing up and kicking the plastic cup across the room. He pulled the matted shirt up off his skin and cleared his throat. "You're very lucky I love this game."

Antonio threw his head back and laughed, nearly losing his balance on the stool. "Please make this quick though!" He said between breaths. "I really have to pee!"

Francis held up his hands in a calm down gesture. "Okay, okay. I'll go fast. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo do you take Gilbert Beilschmidt as your husband?"

"Uhhh yes!"

"And Gilbert Beilschmidt do you take Antonio as your wife?"

"Why didn't you say my whole name?" Antonio whined and slouched over.

"Cause it's too long and nobody's got the time!" Gilbert laughed starting to squirm around on the stool. "I already have an idea for another game so yeah, yeah, I do!"

"Okay kiss and stuff," Francis said indifferently walking over to his dresser to change his shirt.

Gilbert stepped off the stool and gave Toni a quick peck on the lips before running straight to the door. "Come on guys! Let's go throw Cheetos at Roderich's house!''

Francis glanced over his shoulder with a knowing smile. "Honhonhon. I like that. Can we throw gummy bears at Arthur's house as well?"

"You know it!" Gilbert declared already down the hallway. Francis beamed and followed, pulling a pastel pink colored shirt over his head in the process.

"Wait guys!" Antonio called tossing the towel over his shoulder and tripping on his way to the door. "I still have to pee!"

* * *

 **Hi! So this is going to be a series of oneshots about my favorite friendship trio being a little closer than normal friends lol.**

 **Now, I do not ship any of these three together romantically so that's not my intentions at all. I just feel like they would be comfortable doing things like this with each other before they get into their own relationships. But if you do ship any of those combos, I guess take it as you please.**

 **Also, this will also be eventual Spamano and Prucan along with other ships like USUK, Gerita, DenNor, stuff like that. Sorry guys, I don't ship France with anyone and I would be very uncomfortable writing FRUK because I'm an Avid Usuk shipper. But don't worry, Francis won't be left sad or anything, I have a plan for him.**

 **Yup they're 5 and kissing. It's a wedding game they're not really inlove so calm the cluck down.**

 **I didn't type this all out like I did with my other story so I'm not sure how often I'll update.**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **2/15/17**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Kind of Homo: Chapter Two_**

 _Age 7_

"My gosh! What is this?" Francis cried abruptly as he forcefully yanked a neon green colored shirt out of his dear friend Toni's dresser. "This color is just terrible!"

From the floor, Gilbert rolled his eyes as he took two trains and drove them straight into each other nearly pinching his fingers in between them. " _This color is just terrible!"_ He mocked in his best French accent earning a pout from the blonde. He chuckled mischievously and continued on with his toys. "What's the big deal, Francypants?"

Francis threw the shirt on the floor with a loud sigh before pointing at it as if he was accusing it of something. "Just look at it! It's just gross! And Antonio has absolutely nothing suitable for the first day of school tomorrow!"

Gilbert stuck out his tongue in concentration as he began rolling his train across the carpet over towards Francis. Once he made it to his friend's foot, he began rolling it up his leg, up his arm and over his shoulder, up his neck until the train found itself perched on top of Francis' head. The French boy instantly swatted the engine off his head with a shriek, "My hair!"

He patted his hair and smoothed it out at the ends. He had been growing it out for the past few years and it was his pride. He also knew how much it annoyed Arthur Kirkland and that was a major bonus.

Gilbert fell back on his butt to retrieve his train and laughed goodnaturedly, glancing at the oblivious Toni who was still preoccupied with his crayons on his bed. He turned back to his fretting friend and shrugged, "It's only the first day of second grade. Who cares anyway? I can bet you Tino is going to wear overalls _again."_

Francis shook his head and turned back to the drawer. "It's about how you look everyday. And Toni is not set for everyday."

Gilbert looked up at the ceiling and shrugged like _whadda ya gonna do?_ then followed him to the dresser. He lazily peeked inside and his head cocked to the side in confusion. All he saw were bright colors and cartoon characters. And jean shorts and overalls. He stiffly looked back at the boy next to him. "Okay you're right. Toni has no sense of style."

Francis waved his hands towards Antonio in almost a menacing way, who was still too aloof to notice and was devouring his fourth tomato. "See? You understand?"

Gil shrugged and punched Francis in the shoulder which earned a squeal out of the fashionista. "But who cares? Toni will look dumb anyway. Come build a tower so I can knock it down."

The blonde crossed his arms and turned away. "I refuse!" he cried dramatically. "Antonio!" He sashayed across the room and took a seat next to the subject of conversation.

Toni lifted his head and wiped his tomato juice covered hands on his pants. "Hm what?" he mumbled and blinked up at him.

Francis clicked his tongue disapprovingly and Gilbert stomped his foot in annoyance. "UH! Fashion is stupid! Who cares what he wears? He'll never look as awesome as me anyways!" The albino complained loudly.

Antonio raised an eyebrow in confusion. Having been too preoccupied with his coloring page, he had missed the whole previous conversation.

Francis patted Antonio on the head affectionately. "Oh Antonio don't worry. I'm here to save you from your wardrobe!'' After seeing Toni's still clueless face he sighed and said, "Don't you wish you dressed like me?"

Toni grinned and nodded, his green eyes lighting up the room. "Yeah Francis you look totally cool!"

Francis nodded and shot a smug look at Gil who stuck out his tongue and yelled, "YOU'RE STUPID!"

The blonde elected to ignore him and pointed at the Spaniard's shirt. "We have to start by getting rid of that."

Toni cocked his head to the side before glancing down at his shirt and gasping out loud. That was his favorite _Teen Titans_ shirt! "I can't get rid of this _amigo!_ This is my _Teen Titans_ shirt!"

Francis shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Cartoons are immature, Toni. You should try and act mature like _moi_!" He struck a pose.

Gilbert scowled but quickly covered it up with a cheeky smirk. He then picked up a 500 piece puzzle box and tossed in the direction of the blonde. The box hit him square in the back of the head, sending puzzle pieces flying everywhere.

At Francis' loud "OWW" Gilbert's smiled widened and Toni pointed at him and laughed out loud. Gilbert sat down next to him as Francis pulled himself back together. "Don't worry buddy. Yeah, you suck at choosing clothes, but as long as your clothes have Batman on them or you're around me, nobody is going to think you're a weirdo."

Toni pouted and hopped up from his seat, passing a ticked off Francis as he walked to his dresser. He reached in and pulled out a bright green shirt with Shrek as the center piece. "See look how cute this is?"

Francis stood and dusted himself off. "Um, no."

Gilbert's eyes twitched in amusement, before he busted out in laughter. "You have a shirt with Shrek on it!''

Antonio held it out in front of him as if he were checking the size. "Well yeah." As the others continued to shake their heads, Antonio grabbed another one. He held it up and waited for the responses. Francis inspected it thoughtfully while Gilbert merely glanced at it. It was a loud red shirt with two little tomatoes cuddled together. It read, "I love you from my head to-ma-toes!''

Francis blinked. "Okay. That one is pretty cute."

"Yeah." Gil agreed.

''See?'' the brunette smiled before pulling the shirt close and snuggling it into his chest.

"Hey I have an idea!" Gilbert stepped forward and thrusted a finger in the air. "Since I'm so awesome and Francis is _stylish,"_ he said the last part with air quotes and less enthusiasm. "We can take off our clothes and mix them together and give Toni the best outfit ever!" He did a little spin to showcase his red hoodie, black t-shirt, black jeans with natural holes at the knees and joe boxer socks.

Francis cupped his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Why not? Let's try it!" He smiled, already stripping off his button down shirt. "You have to, too." Francis looked pointedly at Antonio.

"Mhm." Gil hummed, walking over and yanking down Toni's shorts for him. Antonio laughed and ruffled his hair before kicking the pants off from around his ankles and pulling his shirt over his head.

In the next few moments, the three boys were standing in a circle in nothing but their boxers. Antonio fixed his eyes on Francis' choice of underwear and stuck out his bottom lip. "Francy! Why can't I wear clothes with Shrek if you can wear underwear with frogs on them!"

Francis pursed his lips and flipped his hair, while Gil bent over to get a better look at them. The maroon eyed boy snorted and poked the blonde in the thigh. "Arthur was right! You're a frog!"

Francis put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes. "Be quiet snowflake. Let's get started."

So that's what they did. They picked up different items of clothing that they had tossed across the room and forced them on the obeying Spaniard. Often, Francis would ask him to do a spin or strike a pose and Antonio would happily oblige

"I think this is the one." Gilbert stuck out his tongue in concentration and held out his hands to admire his work.

"You're kidding me right?" Francis turned to him.

"I don't know, but this is comfy!" Antonio giggled from under the hood. As of right now, he was modeling Francis' skinny jeans and Gilbert's jacket without anything underneath, so unzipped it revealed his torso. Around his neck was Francis' silver necklace and on his feet he wore mismatched socks.

"This is just awful!" Francis shook his head, going to peel the hoodie off Antonio's back.

Antonio just pulled the garment closer. Running to the door he laughed, "I'm gonna show _madre!"_

"Oh yeah!" "Oh no!" came the replies of both the fashion designers before they both followed him out of the room and down the hallway. Still in their underwear, Francis and Gilbert planted themselves on either side of Antonio who was standing in front of his mother.

She sat on the couch comfortably, folding laundry with some sort of Spanish soap opera playing in the background. The dark haired woman folded a pair of shorts and raised a brow amused. "What do we have here _mijo?"_

Antonio's face lit up like a lava lamp but Gilbert beat him to the punch. "Only mine and Francis'-but mostly mine- AWESOME creation! Doesn't he look AWESOME!"

She smiled warmly, but her face still showed some confusion. Francis held up a hand. "Not the best work, but I can assure you, next time I will take the lead and it will be breathtaking!'' To add more dramatic effect, he kissed the tip of his index and middle fingers and thrusted his arm out.

Antonio threw his arms up and began flapping around his long sleeves. Then he leaned forward and grabbed his mom's knee. "What do you think mama?" He asked with a full smile.

"Yeah he looks cute doesn't he?" Gilbert added with a look of pride, placing his hands on his hips.

Francis sighed, but ruffled Antonio's hair affectionately again. Antonio's mother gathered the clothes on her lap and laughed somewhat awkwardly. "Oh yes, he looks very cute." She watched as her son did a little dance and his two half naked friends exchanged high fives. She sighed deeply, but a small smile twitched at her lips. "But you boys shouldn't call him cute." She added, standing up and holding the laundry basket under one arm. She walked past, gently patting Francis' blonde locks as she did.

"Why not mama?" Antonio urged as the three trailed behind her.

She turned around and grinned. "You should let the _chicas_ do that." She winked, then started her way up the stairs.

The three boys stared after her for a second before shrugging simultaneously. Gilbert pulled Toni's hood down and said in a booming voice, "When she says _chicas_ is she talking about birds? Because I can go back to my house and get Gilbird!"

"Yeah, why don't we?" Francis snapped his fingers. "Then I can do Toni's hair over there!"

Antonio placed his hands on his hips and stood on his toes. "Yeah! And we can ask Gilbert's grandpa if we can braid his hair!" he added, pulling off Francis' jeans and stripping off his socks.

Gilbert nodded, confirming the idea. "Then we can have Luddy judge how good he looks!" The self absorbed second grader visibly high fived himself. "I'M SO AWESOME!"

And after Antonio threw the albino's hoodie over his shoulder, the three boys ran out the door with no shoes and in nothing but their underwear.

* * *

 **Yes this chapter was quite boring I know.**

 **Soon, more characters will show up, so yay! And more drama, so yay! And Spamano, so YAAY!**

 **Thank you _forsain7_ and _UnknownFujoshiArtist_ for being my reviewers. Please review guys! Let me know what you like and whatnot so I know what I should so. **

**Fav and Review!**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **2/24/17**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Kind of Homo: Chapter Three_**

 _Age 9_

"Oh my gosh, Toni just give me the stupid ball!" Gilbert huffed, once again lunging forward just for Antonio to scissor it away from him.

In distraught, Francis fell back on his butt and rubbed his gloved hands together. They had started school about two months ago and the fall wasn't be good to them. Nonetheless, Gilbert forced them all outside for a game of soccer and was unexpectedly being shown up. "How is Antonio better at something than us?"

Gilbert growled again, trying for the ball another time and Antonio laughed playfully. "I've been playing since I was two _amigo_!"

Gilbert shook his head, a cheeky grin forming on his face. Francis knew that look all too well. So for his safety, he stood up and braced himself for anything.

"You think you're better than me? THE AWESOME GILBERT?" With one swift move, Gilbert grabbed Toni's shoulder and threw him on the ground. Then, with his red stiff hands that he refused to put gloves on because he thought they made him look lame, he picked up the ball and turned on his heel running in the opposite direction of Toni

"Hey!" The Spaniard pouted as he stood and chased after him. "Handball! You can't use your hands in soccer unless you're the goalie!"

"Well it's a good thing were not playing soccer anymore!" The snowflake haired boy laughed menacingly over his shoulder. "RUGBY TIME!" He declared chucking the ball over Antonio's head to Francis who stood waiting with his arms raised.

Toni jumped as high as he could, but he never seemed able to reach it. As time passed and he was still unable to snatch the ball, Francis smirked. "We're not really playing rugby as much as _Toni_ in the middle."

Toni stopped trying for a minute and cocked his head like a confused puppy. "Isn't it called monkey in the middle?"

Gil shrugged and tossed the ball again. "Meh, same difference."

"Not nice Gil!" Toni pouted while turning toward the albino.

Gilbert caught the ball again and waved it in the air. "If you want it, come and get it!" He challenged walking backwards before sprinting across the abandoned street.

Francis as cupped his hands around his mouth, readying to call Gilbert back when the screen door opening caught his attention. Out stepped Gilbert's younger brother, someone Francis and Toni knew well.

Ludwig narrowed his full blue eyes and let the door slam behind him. "Gilbert!" He called, crossing his arms across his chest. "Grandpa said we have to stay in the yard!"

Gilbert stopped on the other side of the road and playfully scoffed. "Oh Luddy, you are just so cute." He waved him off and rolled his eyes. "Since when do I listen to grandpa?" He then chuckled to himself as if what he said was a hilarious joke.

Ludwig rolled his eyes at his brother's immaturity. So like always, Gilbert ignored the rules. And just to spite Ludwig, he held his hands behind his back-the ball long forgotten- and whistled an old tune that he knew annoyed the daylights out of him.

"Gil?" Toni called.

"Hey look!" The albino interrupted, pointing down the road. "It's Roderich and Elizabeta! Let's go make fun of them!"

And before anyone, pointedly Ludwig, could complain any further, Gilbert took off down the road.

Both Francis and Antonio glanced at each other, then at Ludwig, then at each other again before shrugging and following their self proclaimed leader.

Ludwig stood on the porch with his hand on the door knob, contemplating whether he should follow or not. But the longer he stood there, the father the others got away. So with a loud huff, he rubbed his temples and muttered "What the heck," and followed the trio.

He caught up to the two of them relatively quickly but by the time the three of them caught Gilbert he was already taunting their classmates.

"What are you doing out here pretty boy? Isn't it too cold for your delicate little piano fingers?" He mocked, wiggling his fingers in Roderich's face.

Roderich crossed his arms but turned away with a look of pure annoyance on his face.

However, Elizabeta had a different agenda. "Get away from him you German jerk! At least Roderich has the the sense to put on gloves in this weather!"

"Gloves are for pansies!"

"With that stupid girl voice, you're the pansy!"

At the last remark, Gilbert narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well everyone knows when you walk by! Because you smell so bad!" Elizabeta gasped and her hands curled into fists. Beside him, Antonio and Francis were laughing and cheering loudly, rooting Gilbert on.

Gilbert grinned and threw his arms up before walking circles around her and the pianist. "When you come by I hold my nose and yell TRASHBOAT!" He laughed and pointed at his giggling friends. "And then Toni says-!"

"EW gross!" Toni filled in the blank.

"Then Francis says-!"

"Something reeks!" The Frenchman chuckled.

Ludwig stood silently off to the side and he shook his head. A sweat drop might as well have been sliding down his forehead.

Elizabeta and Roderich both stood in front of the laughing children. They both had their arms crossed and thin frowns plastered on their faces.

As Gilbert's laughs died down and his minions' giggles slowly declined, Elizabeta tapped her foot impatiently. "You done?" She snapped.

Gilbert wiped a fake year from his eye and nodded his head as if waiting for her to make her comeback.

"Good." The brunette turned her head to the side and smiled smugly. Using her trump card she sweetly said, "At least I can tell girls from boys."

At the stifled gasps his friends produced and the small amused smile on Ludwig's face, Gilbert flushed deeply.

He distinctly remembered the confusion that washed over him when "Eli" wore a dress to school. It was in second grade, the day where everyone's parents came in and there was some sort of social event. Elizabeta had walked in with her mother wearing a green frilly dress with her hair down over her shoulders. That was also the first day she didn't attempt to throw Roderich in the mud when he held the door open for her. In fact, she ended up enjoying his company, which Gilbert thought was the weirdest thing ever. And from that day forward, she pretty much became his bodyguard.

He also remembered Francis' loud, "I TOLD YOU SHE WAS A GIRL!"

How was he to know? What kind of girl wrestles with the boys on the playground, never wears pink, and cuts the dolls hair off at playtime? Now a days, she still wore muddy sneakers just like in the past, but she also always wore a red flower headband. _Eli_ would _never_ do something like that, but recently people have been identifying red flowers as _Elizabeta's_ thing.

He awkwardly coughed into his hand praying that his blush had disappeared. He avoided eye contact, still a little embarrassed but said loudly, "Well Feliks is a boy and he wears-!"

"Yeah but Feliks is clearly a boy!"

The two of them continued arguing while Roderich off on the side wondered to himself how they even got into the situation. Irritably he shook his head and stood on his toes as he peeked over the arguing duo. On the other side Ludwig still looked peeved off and Antonio was now staring at a squirrel across the way.

Roderich glanced at the last boy and wasn't even surprised when he caught him already looking at him. Francis smiled warmly but Roderich felt a chill rush up his spine. He awkwardly took a step back and sighed, "Gilbert, can you please leave?"

All at once, Gilbert paused mid argument, Francis' smile fell into a thin line, Antonio snapped his attention back.

And again, all at once, shouts filled the air like, "Are you serious?" "You're the annoying one!" "Rod stop being a total jackwagon!"

Roderich pursed his lips, but Elizabeta stepped forward and shoved Gil back. "You heard him."

Despite his shivering hands, Gilbert rolled his sleeve up his arm and pushed her right back. "Oh what are you gonna do?"

Francis clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes in amusement. Stepping forward he placed one hand on each of their shoulders and smiled widely, "Honhonhon. Do not fight! Make love, not war!"

Gilbert stuck out his tongue and shrugged the hand off. Elizabeta narrowed her eyes. She never really liked Francis. "You want me to smack you upside the head with my skillet?"

Francis held his hands up in surrender but still had a grin on his face.

Behind them down the road, a loud gravelly sound almost resembling thunder pierced the air. All six of them turned their heads and Francis lifted a finger. "Moving trucks?" He questions as the first of four of them passed by.

After all four were long gone, Antonio scratched his head. "That's a lot of trucks for one family."

"Oh yeah," Ludwig cut in. The others turned to him, nearly having forgotten his presence. "Grandpa did say something about two new families who are moving into the neighborhood." Turning his intense gaze to Gilbert he added, "And we are not to bug them."

Toni bounced on the balls of his feet. "Ooo! I wonder if either of the families have any kids!"

The albino stood up straighter and placed his hands on his hips. "I bet they're not as awesome as me!"

Francis cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm.. I wonder if it will be a pretty girl or cute boy."

Elizabeta raised an eyebrow at them and shared a glance with Roderich before chuckling. "What? So he can be added to your guys' little boyfriend collection?"

Gilbert quickly held up a fist and stepped forward. "They are not my-!" He blinked. Then he stepped back and grabbed Francis' hand who automatically grabbed Antonio's hand. Then be rephrased his argument. "Yeah, well, I'm cool enough to have two boyfriends! You'll never even have one!" He swung his and Francis' hands up and threw his head back before cackling into the air.

Ludwig took a deep breath and face palmed. "Elizabeta I'm so sorr-!"

"You should not talk to Elizabeta that way." Roderich suddenly cut in catching everyone off guard. "She deserves to be treated like a princess." His face remained determined with no hint of embarrassment which wasn't normal for him. The others stared at him wide eyed. Elizabeta's face heated up and a deep pink blush migrated over her cheeks.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Wait.." He slowly looked between them before he grinned crookedly. "Oooooo your face is all red!"

Again, Ludwig shook his head and apologized while the others giggle uncontrollably .

Elizabeta let out an irritated huff and grabbed Roderich's hand. "Let's go!" She said, already dragging him away. For good measures, she glanced over her shoulder and hissed at Gilbert.

Ludwig, despite being the youngest one there, could not stand the immaturity. He rubbed his hands together and began leading them back home.

During the walk Antonio piped up in a cheery voice, "But I seriously hope there will be new kids! If they live around here, they'll have to go to our school!"

Francis flipped his hair and nodded in agreement. " _Oui._ The same kids from school are getting old."

The other blonde present shook his head. "Don't get your hopes up."

Gilbert slapped his kid brother on the shoulder. "Hey don't be a mashed potato!"

Ludwig shook his head disapprovingly at his brother's choice of words. Gilbert didn't seem to notice. "Maybe you'll finally make a friend?!"

Ludwig crossed his arms and turned away. "I have a friend."

Gilbert sighed ad threw his head back. "Ughhh Kiku!"

Antonio held his finger up and smiled. "He had shown me some good anime!"

Francis nodded. "He has... But.."

Gilbert shrugged. "Don't get me wrong. Kiku is cool but... You never know what he's thinking!"

Ludwig closed his eyes. "Yeah well at least he keeps to himself." He spoke calmly. But then his whole mood changed. "UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE!" He nearly yelled, causing the other three to stop and gape.

They glanced at each other.

Behind him he heard Antonio ask, "Who is he talking about?"

"I'm not sure," Francis whispered.

"YO! WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT BRUDER?!"

Ludwig grit his teeth, desperately trying to block them out.

* * *

 **And now other characters will be involved!**

 **And yeah, I know it's unrealistic, but it's just a coincident two families are moving in and all their trucks were near each other... Let's pretend it was two different moving businesses yeah?**

 **Anyway, can anyone guess whose moving in? (I feel like it's kinda obvious but idk)**

 **Review please!**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **3/4/17**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Kind of Home: Chapter Four_**

 _Age 9_

"No, no, no!" Antonio giggled in a hushed tone as he pulled the pencil out of Francis' hand. "You have to make the eyebrows thicker!"

Francis cupped his hands over his mouth in an attempt to muffle his laughter. Gilbert just threw his head back and cackled as Antonio continued to tweak the drawing. "That's perfect!" The albino snapped his finger as he leaned over the other boys' shoulders.

"Yes, a complete replica!" Francis concluded picking up the flimsy piece of printer paper and lining it up next to the blonde sitting across from him in the table groups.

They all marvelled at their work despite the picture not resembling him at all in any way. Francis knew that of course, the only thing that even sparked a similarity between Arthur and the drawing was the blonde hair, green eyes, and angry bushy eyebrows. The head was abnormally big, limbs different sizes, and although the Brit was from the UK, no one had ever seen him wear a top hat before. But Francis was assured that that's exactly how the infuriating Arthur Kirkland would look on the inside, despite his cute shell on the outside.

The brunette boy occupying the seat next to him leaned over and stuck his face near Francis' ear. Gilbert leaned forward as well to catch Antonio's, "Look how he doesn't even notice….!"

Following Tonio's gaze, the other boys glanced at Arthur, who was in fact oblivious. He had his nose stuck in a book and his eyebrows scrunched together as always. "So, so stupid." Francis muttered with a grin.

Gilbert laughed in agreement. "Yeah, unless that book is teaching him how to be as awesome as me, it's trash!''

Francis rolled his eyes as Antonio high fived Gil for his insult. "Or teaches him how to make HIS EARS WORK PROPERLY."

In response, both Arthur and Lukas, the boy sitting across from Antonio, stuck their noses further into their respective books. Antonio cocked his head to the side. "So can they hear us or…?"

"Like, oh my gosh! Those are totally new kids rights?" Feliks' voice interrupted, causing Gilbert to glance over at him. Across from the seat at the table where Gilbert was suppose to be sitting, Feliks, in all the pink glamour you could imagine, was shaking Toris' shoulder and pointing at the doorway. The albino followed the blonde's gaze and hardly noticed half the kids were turning their attention that way too. Sure enough, trailing behind their awfully giddy teacher were three boys; two blondes and one brunette.

Francis', Antonio's, and Gilbert's eyes all followed the newcomers until they were planted next the teachers desk where she engaged in conversation with them. One by one, the boys tilted their heads to the side and Arthur irritably glanced up from his novel.

"Those moving trucks we saw over the weekend were probably theirs!" Antonio said after a moment and turned toward Francis who merely nodded.

"Yes, they're all boys." Francis noted placing a hand to his chin but didn't look at all disappointed.

Antonio nodded, standing up on one leg and situating his other knee on the chair so he could see his new classmates from the back of the room more clearly. "Hmm.. The two guys with the blonde hair look almost exactly the same."

Gilbert crossed his arms and squinted his eyes. "You think so? Nah, they look totally different."

Francis ignored the comments and twirled a blonde strand that hung loosely from his ponytail. "Profiling, go!"

Gilbert shoved Antonio in the shoulder, earning a loud whine from the Spaniard, but grinned widely and said, "ME FIRST!" His eyes briefly scanned over the trio. "Okay, that guy." He started off with a winning smile, pointing at one of the blonde boys. He looked like the taller of the two with a smile almost identical to Gilbert's. He didn't appear to be paying any attention to the teacher['s words and was busying himself with waving at his new classmates. "Well he looks awesome, not as awesome as me, but cool enough to hang around me. He'll probably be my best friend and he'll listen to all the awesome stories I have!"

Francis rolled his eyes in amusement and turned to Toni who was still staring up at the boys. "What about you _mon ami?_ "

Antonio shrugged. "Hmm.. Yeah, he has glasses so he must be smart."

They heard a scoff from across the table. Arthur placed his book in his lap but kept his hand in the pages so he didn't lose his spot. ''Please, wearing glasses doesn't dictate your level of intelligence."

After Antonio stuck out his tongue and Gilbert presented a not-so-nice hand gesture, Francis clicked his tongue in annoyance. "How about you mind your own business _Anglais garçon."_ Noticing that the Brit was taking a deep breath, most likely preparing to insult Francis like he was never going to get a chance to ever again, Francis glanced back at the blonde in the front of the class and said, "Yeah, I think he's kinda cute, but he looks super obnoxious the way he is waving at everyone."

Gilbert flicked Francis in the head then crossed his arms. "No he's awesome." He said certainly, his pride getting the best of him. "What about that about that kid?" he nodded his head forward.

After noticing that his friend was referring to the other blonde and not the brunette, Antonio raised his eyebrows and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I almost forgot he was there."

Gilbert shot his head toward Antonio and face palmed. "How? He's right there you idiot." When Antonio shrugged and muttered a 'my bad' Gilbert shook his head. Man, Antonio was an airhead sometimes. But despite his sympathy for the forgotten boy, Gilbert couldn't help but feel indifference for him. He seemed a little...plain. "Anyways,'' he cleared his throat. "I don't know about this kid, he looks a little wishy-washy."

Antonio glanced at the ceiling. "Wishy-washy…?

Gilbert held his arms at the boy like he was trying to reenact the Will Smith meme. "He looks kind of lame! Look! He is hiding behind the cool one. And.. MY GOD THAT DUMB CURL STICKING OFF HIS HEAD!" With that he leaned backwards and promptly began laughing his head off. He wiped a fake tear from his eye. "Whew that was a good one."

With a smile and a shrug, Francis waved his hand and said, "No, I think he's kind of _joli_ too. He seems shy though. Very unlike the other one, which I appreciate."

Antonio seesawed his hands. "I like his hair. It looks fluffy."

Francis and Gilbert exchanged bewildered looks for a moment before ultimately nodding in agreement.

They all turned their attention to the last kid who was the shortest of the three and looked the most unhappy to be there. They all immediately had different thoughts.

Francis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He frowns too much, otherwise he could be special. So much wasted potential!" he cried at the end, dramatically throwing his arms up.

Gilbert didn't waste a second, nearly speaking over the end of Francis' monologue where he muttered, "He looks like a little angry cinnamon roll. I just wanna throw a dodgeball at his face! It'd be funny to watched his topple over like a sack of potatoes!" Just at the thought, the ringleader of the boys could hardly contain his cackles.

Antonio nodded his head, the idea sparked look on his face clearly stating he wasn't listening to what was previously said. He was busy trying to figure out what outside the window was so interesting to the angry little boy. "Do you guys think he would want to trade Pokemon cards with me?"

Francis shrugged. "Maybe."

Gilbert eventually stopped laughing at the thought of the kid laying on the ground with little Gilbirds flying around his head to manage a, "Worth a try man!"

Arthur sighed deeply, his eyes directed on the new boys as well. He tapped his fingers on his desk impatiently. "Just some more buggers here to annoy me."

The petite blonde next to him slowly lifted his eyes to Arthur and said in a bored tone, "The more you comment the more those three will include you into their conversations."

When Francis smirked and opened his mouth like Lukas said he would, Arthur softly glared at his Norwegian friend. He could have sworn he saw him smiling.

"What? You afraid these kids will think you're a bossy know-it-all too?" the long haired blonde taunted. To Francis' surprise, all the Brit did was flush, mutter a 'shut up' and stick his face back in his book. He turned to share a confused look with his companions, but Tonio and Gilbert were already busying themselves with arguing over which video game they were all gonna play when they got home. Homework still unfinished of course.

At the front of the classroom, the teacher clapped her hands gaining everyone's attention. Immediately everyone settled down, all of them just as excited about the new kids. "Good morning class!" she started off as the newcomers shifted on their feet beside her. "As you guys have noticed we have three new students with us." She gestured to the group next to her. "Because our class was the smallest of all the fourth grade classes, we were lucky enough to score these new faces. " Finally, the slim educator turned to the boys. "Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

The short brunette visibly scrunched up his nose and turned his head away. The wavy haired blonde boy took a small step behind his supposed brother. Said brother only grinned wide and stood up straight. Placing one hand on his hip and pointing to himself with the other he announced, "Hey! I'm Alfred F. Jones and you can always come to me if you need help! Because a hero never shies away!" He dropped his arms to his sides but continued, "Also, I really like hamburgers, and baseball, and aliens, and comic books, and- oh but I hate ghosts they are soooooo terrifying!..."

As Alfred F. Jones rambled on, Antonio heard Gilbert laugh at the table group behind him. He could always tell when Gilbert was laughing. He had such a funny laugh. Antonio glanced around the room. Francis was watching with an amused look on his face. Elizabeta looked kind of excited, Roderich looked indifferent. Feliks looked impressed, Toris looked intimidated. Yao looked peeved, Ivan looked intrigued-which was never a good thing.

Across from him, Lukas was still distracted by his novel as if there were no new kids. Arthur, on the other hand, long forgot his book. It laid closed on his desk while he sat with his arms crossed and an even more annoyed look on his face than before.

When Alfred finished his introduction, the teacher had a sincere smile on her face. She nodded towards the next blonde who poked his head out slightly but kept his eyes cast at the ground.

"H-hi." he started off a bit shaky. Taking a breath he said, "I'm Matthew. Um.. I like hockey and pancakes."

Without hesitation, Gilbert shot out of his seat and raised his hand, nearly giving Toris a heart attack in the process. "I LIKE PANCAKES TOO!"

At once, laughter broke out through the room, most already used to the white haired boy's antics. Some might have actually thought it was humorous-most just wanted to see Gilbert get in trouble. Even Alfred was laughing out loud, his booming sound almost drowning everyone else out. The angry unidentified new kid, to no surprise, was still unamused. Next to him, Matthew's blushed deepened and he sheepishly lowered his head ever more.

The teacher stood up from her seat and took one step forward, her persona quickly switching from a bubbly excited woman meeting her new students for the first time to a worn out fourth grade teacher who just wants to beat that loud mouthed kid with a chair. She pointed to the door and said in a harsh tone, "Gilbert, don't make me send you out."

Gilbert turned toward her and with a forced stoic expression he straightened his back and gave her a common military salute. "Yes ma'am!"

When she shook her head in an annoyed manner and turned away, Gilbert stuck out his tongue and flipped her the bird. Francis and Antonio enjoyed that sharing muffled giggles. Across the room Roderich rolled his eyes.

The grown woman flipped a strand of dark hair over her shoulder and sympathetically smiled at the new students. "Sorry boys, you'll have to get used to that here… Anyways, are you two brothers?"

Matthew looked as if he was going to answer that, but Alfred held a hand up in front of his face and beamed. "Sure are! Twins in fact! But I'm obviously the older one!"

At Matthew's nod she smiled warmly and glanced at the last guest. He looked at her for a moment, and in those briefs seconds he didn't frown, Toni noted.

The moment didn't last long because his scowl quickly returned and he tightened his crossed arms. His gaze avoided the other student and he stared at the ground, his face flushing deeply. "I'm Lovino," is how he started. His slight Italian accent caught most off guard for nearly a second but it wasn't all that surprising. Their class was a melting pot.

Besides, Antonio quite liked his accent.

Lovino lifted his eyes finally and let them scan the room. With puffed out cheeks he continued, "I have a stupid brother a grade below us. That's all you jerks need to know."

The teacher didn't seem to know exactly how to respond to that, but Francis and Antonio grinned. "He looks like a little tomato!" The Spaniard gushed.

The fourth grade teacher awkwardly ran a hand through her hair and forced a laugh. "Umm, nice to meet you." She placed her hands on her hips and let her eyes roam the room. "Now let's find some seats for you… Alfred..? How about you-"

"He can sit here!" A boy with spiky blonde hair and an excited grin on his face said. He sat at a table group with two other boys: a tall one with glasses and a small one with a childish face and violet eyes. They both seemed a little agitated by their classmate who was smacking the empty desk next to him. "Yeah Alfred should sit here!"

Without waiting for approval, Alfred walked over and took a seat giving his new friend a high five in the process. As the class' volume began raising to it's normal level, Lukas finally peeked out from behind his book. Noticing Mathias and his new pal caused him to exchange a look with Arthur, who looked plain annoyed. Lukas wasn't sure why he would look that way, but it was Arthur after all.

Behind her desk, the educator pointed to a pair of desks in the back alongside Vash and Eduard. "You boys can sit back there." The two obliged and awkwardly shuffled to the back of the class.

"Okay, now that everything is settled, let's start the lesson…"

Ignoring the blabber coming out of his teacher's mouth, Gilbert leaned over the back of his chair and cupped his hands around his mouth, whispering as subtly as he could, "Hey! Hey hero guy! Wanna play football with us at recess?"

At the word football, Alfred's blue eyes sparkled. He held a thumbs up and nodded while saying, "Yeah of course bruh!"

"Would you guys be quiet? I'm trying to hear the lesson!" a strong English accent cut in. Alfred and Gilbert glanced over their shoulders at the boy who was addressing them. Arthur glared daggers at the new boy.

Alfred just whistled playfully and chuckled out a, "Don't be a sour kraut." He then winked at the blonde and turned toward the front of the room. Arthur embarrassedly looked away.

Francis, on the other hand, was busy trying to gain Matthew's attention. "Hey, _Matthieu!_ That's a very nice name!" He whispered across the short distance between his and the new boy's table. "Also, you have really nice hair! It reminds me of my own honhon!"

The younger twin slunk down in his chair, desperately just wanting to disappear. But he smiled nonetheless still avoiding making eye contact with anyone. "Thank you…" he muttered in his nearly hushed voice.

Next to Francis, Antonio whispered in the same direction at Matthew's elbow partner. "Hey! Pssst! Hey Lovi!"

Hearing his name in such a manner, Lovino spun around quickly in his chair catching Antonio off guard and distracting Francis from his attempts to spark a conversation with Matthew. "Don't call me that you jerk.'' The Italian hissed.

As if he wasn't even called a name, the Spaniard just leaned over the back off his chair further and asked with a sincere smile on his face. "Do you wanna trade Pokemon cards with me?"

With hesitation, Lovino scoffed and looked up at the ceiling. "Pokemon is for losers, like you stupid!"

The smaller boy then turned away leaving Antonio to stick out his bottom lip and mutter, "That's not niiiiceeee!"

Noticing that Gilbert was turning his attention toward them and away from the blond who was disruptively showing Mathias a doodle he did, the teacher already looked unsure about these kids, Francis shrugged his shoulder and broke his gaze away from Alfred. "I guess we can conclude that one's loud and obnoxious."

Gilbert glanced at Matthew who was hiding his face in his sweatshirt. "Ones kind of lame and quiet."

Glancing at Lovino, who was angrily tapping his fingers on his desk, Tonio went with, "One is…...feisty!" Looking impressed with his word choice he showed off his pearly whites with a smile.

Francis clicked his tongue. "What interesting boys."

The green eyed Brit slumped back in his seat and rubbed his palms on his pants. "Leave those guys alone. They're starting over in a new school, the last thing they need is you wankers screwing it up."

Antonio stuck his tongue out. "We never mess anything up."

Gilbert thrusted his finger in the air and announced, "We'll prove it!' Gaining a few curious looks his way, the albino stood up on his chair and held his arms out yelling, "YOU THREE!" As if knowing he was referring to them, Alfred, Matthew, and Lovino raised their eyebrows. "YOU ARE ALL GONNA BE OUR NEW BOY TOYS!"

The class remained silent for a moment before arguments and questions immediately broke out. Alfred cocked his head to the side but ultimately broke out laughing his heart out as well. Matthew widened his violet orbs even more and his face colored a darker shade, his glasses and bangs being no help in hiding it. Lovino's scowl hardened and he hid his face in his hands.

The teacher scowled and pointed toward the door.

Gilbert sure had a blast counting the grains of sand on the hallway floor for the remainder of class.

* * *

 **Told you that updates wouldn't be consistent.**

 **Anyways, we met the new kids! Yay! (Very convenient that they all move to to the same neighborhood and are in the same class..)(Also I'm really bummed I could make the Vargas' twins! But it wouldn't make sense for Lud to be in the same class as Gilbert so yeah and I couldn't make Lovi younger bc then this chapter would be verrrry different...)**

 **Yeah, this where they're gonna start aging slower because I want us to see the way all their relationships blossom. Also, I'm going to try to keep this story mostly settled around them and their friendship, but idk about you, but when me or my friend have a crush, lots of everything is about that _special person_ as well. So yea, if I were to list the main characters as of starting now in the story it would be:**

 ***Francis**

 ***Antonio**

 ***Gilbert**

 ***Lovino**

 ***Matthew**

 ***Alfred**

 ***Arthur**

 **Main supporting characters would be like:**

 ***Ludwig**

 ***Feli**

 ***Elizabeta**

 ***Lukas**

 ***Mathias**

 ***Possibly Kiku**

 **And of course the other characters, but they're the main ones. One more thing, I really have no plot planned at all I'm literally making this up as I go, so if you guys are interested there will occasionally be a chapter where it is centered around one of the side pairings (ex:Gerita, Dennor) and somehow I will work the main boys in. Sound good, yeah?**

 **Okay, hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **3/26/17**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Kind of Homo: Chapter Five**_

 _Age 9_

"Oof!" Arthur exclaimed as he landed on his butt yet again, his eyes screwed shut as he rubbed the back of his head. "Gilbert! Stop being such a jerk!"

"Maybe you should just stop sucking at the game so much!" Gilbert spat back, attempting to mock the Brit's English accent.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and sucked in his breath, his cheeks were already a rosy pink from the cool air. "Maybe you wankers should stop forcing me to play then!" He shouted, pointing his finger at the groups of boys who now surrounded them.

"WIMP!" The German called when Arthur kicked the football at his feet and stormed away.

Alfred stepped up next to Gilbert and let out a playful whistle, his eyes still following Arthur's retreating figure. "Is he always like this?" It was only his third day at this school, yet he was learning a lot about this particular blonde boy extremely quickly.

Some of the boys gathered, consisting of Antonio, Mathias, Berwald, and Sadik, nodded their heads. On the sidelines, Francis, who was all bundled up for the cold weather, threw his arms up stiffly. He clasped his gloved hands together and cheered, "Yay! Gilbert beats the Burnt Crumpet again!"

Antonio swooped up the football into his hands and walked up to Francis. "Why don't you ever play the game with uuussss!?" He whined.

Francis scoffed loudly, as if the question itself was an insult. "Because _stupide."_ He flipped is golden locks. "My hair will get messed up."

A loud noise exiting the door caught their attention, and they all turned their heads as a flood of younger kids filled up the playground. Alfred adjusted his glasses on his face and furrowed his brows. "Wait, how much time is left for recess?''

Francis tugged down his glove a little to check his watch, a very stylish and mature watch he might add, and answered, "About fifteen minutes. But sometime the younger kids are let out early."

The American accepted the answer easy enough with a casual nod of the head, until his eyes widened and his hands were buried in his hair. "Where is Mattie?! I keep on getting in trouble at home for not paying attention to Mattie at school! I do not wanna get yelled at again!"

Francis' face twisted in minor annoyance and he stepped back as Gilbert raised an eyebrow and propped his arms up behind his head. The other boys slowly dispersed, going to find a new activity now that this one seemed abandoned.

Antonio, being the optimist, stepped forward and patted the fretting boy on the back. "Well, we can help you! What does Matthew like to do at recess?"

"Uhh.." Alfred hesitated and gazed at the sky. "I'm not really sure."

Francis raised an eyebrow. "But haven't you gone to school with him, for like, your whole life?"

"Sure, and Mattie is cute and adorable and I looove him! But he also sucks at sports and stuff so I really can't play with him at recess! It's not my fault my trusty sidekick isn't being trusttyyyyy!" The American whined.

The albino held up his palms and his maroon colored eyes lit up. "I just had an awesome idea! This Mattie what's-his-face guy is all quiet and shy. Let's just go see what quiet kids do!"

"Yeah! Like read!" Antonio volunteered.

" _Oui!_ " Francis cheered rubbing his hands together to keep warm. "And draw!"

"Yeah! And…." Alfred and Gilbert glanced at each other simultaneously. "Read….?"

The four boys ran off in a hurry to complete their mission, not quite sure where to start. In the end, they were drawn to the monkey bars, though it was obvious no one was there except for Emma. She waved and Antonio and Francis were the only ones who responded.

"Wow!" Alfred said as he scanned the play equipment around them. "It's really cool to have three sidekicks right now!"

Francis and Gilbert's eyes both grew to about the size of saucers and they both stepped forward, one had his hand in a fist while the other poked Alfred in the chest.

"Are you stupid!"

"What did you just say exactly?"

Gilbert threw up his arms and waved them around wildly. "I can't be a sidekick! I'm too awesome for that! My awesome will outshone any hero and then I'll be the hero and the stupid hero will be the sidekick!"

Francis stroked his chin and flipped his hair. "And I'm far too fabulous to be.. Be.. hero support! Ew!" His accent was getting thicker and harder to understand, as it usually does when he gets over whiny.

Alfred frowned. "Well all heroes need a sidekick!"

Antonio shrugged and his green eyes sparkled as he smiled. "Well I think being a sidekick sounds kinda fun!"

"Shut up Toni!" Gilbert and Francis glared at him causing him to chuckle an "oops! Sorry!" and scratch the back of his head.

"Hey guys!" They heard a voice coming from the directions of the swings call. They all turned their attention that way to find Feliks, in his pick glamour galore, sitting behind a swing that Toris was sitting on. He waved them over. The boys shrugged and obliged.

Once they arrived something abnormal, but then again it was almost normal when Feliks was around, was amidst. Toris was gripping the swing chains tightly with a deep blush on his face and his eyes cast down. On both sides of his head were two ponytails, topped off by cute purple bows.

"Liet's hair is, like, so totally perfect. Right my brosefs?" Feliks marveled at his own work. Toris just dropped his face in his hands and muttered, "I told you not to call them over.."

The others were not able to muffle their laughter, and all four broke into their own heaps of laughter.

" _Amigo!_ You really look like you could be a girl!"

"Maybe I should try that with my hair!"

"HahahaHAHAhaAHHaH!"

"You look so stupid! You can't even compete with my AWESOME!"

As Toris's embarrassment grew, Feliks patted his friend's head affectionately. "See Liet? They love it!"

The boy's laughter slowly died down, and to confirm they were done, Gilbert cleared his throat into his fist and then yelled, "WELL WHADDA YA WANT?!"

Feliks took a step back in an offended manor. "Well, you didn't have to be so rude about it." He rolled his eyes and grabbed Alfred's wrist. "Where is your girlish looking brother or whatever? His hair, I wanna make it match Liet's!"

Toris shot his head up and raised his eyebrows. "Ahh.. Feliks.."

Feliks waved him away. "I'm taking care of business honey. Just, like, gimme a second and I promise I'll totally help you make dinner tonight."

Toris frowned. For whatever reason, Feliks was pretty much convinced that the two of them had been married since second grade. He wasn't sure who started that rumor, but it wasn't helping his crush on Natalia at all, and Feliks actually took a liking to the idea.

Alfred puffed out his chest and slapped it with his palm. "I can't let you do that! It will threaten Mattie's manliness!"

"Actually," Gilbert paused as his eyes were fixed on a figure across the blacktop. "That kid over there looks kinda like you."

Everyone else's eye followed Gilbert's line of vision until they met their target. Matthew sat next Arthur against the wall, both of them studying their shoes but they seemed to be conversing.

In a second flat, the four boys appeared in front of the duo and Alfred lunged at Mattie. He tried squeezing himself in between the other two blondes but it didn't really work. "MAtTie! You have to stop disappearing on me why do you do that you always give me heart attacks!"

Matthew forced a smile and tried to pry his brother off of him. When it didn't work, he just gave up. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of these people, who were making him extremely nervous by the way.

Arthur scowled and glanced down at the current situation. Because Alfred was so inconsiderate, when he leaped at his poor brother he pretty much landed on both of them! And when he tried to squeeze in between them, the idiot couldn't even figure out _there wasn't enough bloody room!_

So now they were here, with Alfred sitting on both of them and hugging Matthew fiercely, while Arthur grew angrier and angrier. "For God's sake Alfred! Do you always have to be a complete idiot? Get off me!"

Alfred sent him a look from the corner of his eye and stuck out his tongue. "You're mean!"

Arthur's scowl hardened and he pulled himself out from under the American, feeling slightly satisfied when the idiot's butt hit the concrete and he winced.

"So," Francis started and twirled a piece of his hair. "Why are you hanging out with Arthur?"

Arthur's eyebrows shot up so quick they could have got stuck in his hair line. He stood up and thrusted a finger at the french boy. "What do you mean by that question?"

Francis grinned and pushed the accusing finger away. "You're a black sheep! Black sheep of this whole school!"

The Brit's jaw dropped and his hands formed into fists at his sides. "I am not! You egotistical, creepy moron!"

The two proceeded to argue, and because it was against his morals as a hero, Alfred released his hold on Matthew and stepped between the duo. He noticed he was slightly taller than both of them which gave him a new sense of pride. "Guys, guys! Don't fight! A hero is here to end all disputes!"

Still on the ground next to them, Matthew lowered his head. He kept his eyes downcast and fiddled with his one untied shoelace, just waiting for the moment they would all get bored and leave him all alone. Well, that's what most people did anyway. That sad thing about it was, he actually thought Arthur and him were having a good discussion. But Matthew was almost positive that the Brit was thankful for the distraction.

Matthew sighed.

Antonio glanced over, watching as Matthew hid behind his hair. The Spaniard's expression softened and he patted his albino friend's shoulder. "Hey Gilbert, he looks kind of sad."

Gilbert glanced at the blonde boy before winking at Antonio and giving a thumbs up. He stepped forward and squatted down right in front of Matthew. When he didn't even glance up, Gilbert got impatient and said, "HEY! Sitting here with _Eyebrows_ makes you look ultra-not-awesome."

Matthew slowly peeked up through his bangs, making out a pale face and sharp facial features. Of course it had to be that loud, intimidating guy from his class. "Uh.. Um, sorry."

Gilbert stuck out his tongue and grinned then promptly fell back onto his butt. He placed his feet so the toe of his shoes touched Matthew's. "Take it from an awesome guy like me." He pointed his thumb at himself then dropped his hand into his lap. "So do you always sit alone at recess?"

The younger twin finally opened his mouth to respond but Arthur beat him to it by stepping away from Francis and holding up a hand and saying, "Well, Ivan did steal a swing from him."

Alfred held up a fist and scowled. "That stupid commie. WE NEED TO SPREAD DEMOCRACY!"

Antonio crossed his arms and nodded matter of factually. "Yeah. Ivan is not so nice."

Gilbert's anger rose at the thought of Ivan stealing this poor innocent, weaklings swing. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Matthew. "How about I teach you how to be awesome?"

Matthew scratched the back of his head and turned his face away. "Um.. no that's okay.."

Francis gasped and stepped forward so he was standing next to Arthur again. " _Non!_ That's not okay! Someone of your potential should not waste it!"

Antonio bounced on the balls of his feet and let out a childish giggle. "Yeah Matthew! You're the nicest classmate we've had in forever!"

"Yeah!" Alfred cheered. "You can learn to be more like me!" He turned to Arthur and the others followed suit.

Said British boy crossed his arms and looked away. After a moment of silence he slowly looked back at Alfred who was still smiling broadly at him. His blue eyes sparkled behind his glasses. Arthur exhaled and grumbled, "Pftt. Well, he has much more potential than any of you by far."

The long-haired blonde boy mockingly held up a hand to his ear and asked, "What was that black sheep?"

Arthur scowled and threw a punch at the other, but Francis was prepared. He took a step back, not getting slugged by half a second, and took off. He laughed hysterically as Arthur chased after him waving his fists around and claiming he would turn him into a frog once he was caught.

Alfred let out a wild laugh too and followed the other boys. He waved one arm in the air as he shouted, "ONE PUUUUUNNNNCCCHHH!"

Antonio watched it all go down, but there was one thing that stood out to him more than anything, that had to be addressed. His eyes widened dramatically and he called, "Alfred!" He ran after the taller boy and continued, "I just noticed you have American flags on your shoes!"

Matthew let out another sigh. He picked up a twig and broke it in half before choosing the better side to draw in the dirt with. Sometime he wondered if that's how twins were made. If God created just one being, but then decided to divide all the good qualities from the bad qualities and put them in two separate people. Then society would do the rest, by choosing one to favor over the other. Sometimes he felt like that's how it worked. He always got the short end of the stick.

Matthew tossed the twig aside, and now somewhat curious as to what had become of his troublesome brother, he picked up his head to scan the playground. He expected them all to be gone, so when his eyes locked with maroon, he could almost feel a frightened squeal get lodged in his throat. He blushed and buried his face into his knees.

Gilbert broke into a big grin and cackled. "You pistachio! You are in a desperate need of awesomeness." He held one hand up above his head and one down at his waist. "The scale goes from here to here. You're in the negatives." For emphasis, he laid his hand flat on the pavement.

"Sorry.." He muffled out into his knees.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "You have a lot to learn you small potato. You'll become awesome, but not as awesome as me you dork."

Matthew winced a bit at the name but Gilbert didn't seem to notice.

"Okay.." Matthew slowly lifted his head and shifted uncomfortably.

Gilbert leaned forward. "Let's start with getting the hair out of your eyes. You'll look so flipping awesome if you stop acting like a shy kiwi!" He placed his hand on the others forehead and the first thing he picked up on was _Mattie has a really warm face. Wowy Zowy!_

He shook that thought off rather quickly and pushed the blonde locks back. He almost wasn't prepared for what he walked into. Matthew's eyes were a cool violet color with flecks of different shades of purple. They were wide and sparkled like a lone star on a cloudy night, and it was a shame he had to hide them behind glasses. He had always assumed they would look the same as Alfred's, a shining blue like the ocean in the middle of the day. But in a way, this was better.

And Gilbert knew that to be true because he felt an unnerving flutter in his stomach, a feeling he never felt before. Not sure if he was one hundred percent comfortable with it, he dropped his hand and coughed into his fist to break the trance. He grinned knowingly and said, "Well, your eyes are awesome. So that's a good sign!"

Gilbert cackled at Matthew, whose face was crimson red. Golden curls continued to fall back into his face where they previously were.

Gilbert widened his eyes and pointed at a wild strand. "If you don't learn to manage that, I might have to do that aga-!"

The whistle signalling the end of recess blew, interrupting Gilbert. He shook his head and a tremendous smile appeared on his face. He stood up and held out his hand. "Come on! Let's go!"

Matthew cocked his head to the side. He slowly ran his index finger over his thumb nail and began raising his hand. But Gilbert being Gilbert was much too impatient for this so he harshly grabbed the blonde's wrist and began dragging him toward the line. "Come on ya slow cabbage patch kid!"

Once they arrived they found that the kids were in more of a blob than a line. They were all gathered around Lovino who was arguing with another boy rather loudly.

"Feli! Just go away! Go play with your dumb friends you still have recess!" Lovino shoved Feli back and let out an irritated whine.

"Lovi! I wanna meet your friends before you go back to class!" He complained just as whiney.

Gilbert threw his head back and howled with laughter. Laughing at Lovino's misfortunes had quickly become one of his favorite hobbies over the last three days. He propped his elbow on Matthew's shoulder who was just slouching low enough for it to be comfortable.

Francis pushed forward through the crowd and sauntered up to Lovino. "Was that your baby brother?"

Antonio popped up next to them and grinned ear to ear. "AW! You guys look so much alike! Well, not one hundred percent alike because your hair colors and stuff are different but I wish I had a little brother!"

Feli hopped up and down and his smile was blinding. "Hi! I'm Feliciano! I'm just a grade below you guys and I looove pasta!"

Lovino scowled and turned on his heel before pushing through the crowd who were all giggling at his expense. Antonio's eyes widened in concern. "Lovino? What's wrong?" He called before following him, as the teachers tried to quiet them all down.

Feli waved goodbye and skipped off toward two other third grade boys. One was a short Japanese boy in a grey hoodie and the other was a taller blonde with a winter hat pulled over his head. Gilbert took an instant interest in the second boy.

"LUDDY! YOOOHOO!" He waved enthusiastically. Ludwig grimaced and turned away as Feliciano poked him in the side, asking who the kid screaming his name was.

Matthew glanced up at Gilbert who was still using him as an armrest. Being that no ever took an interest in him, Matthew almost felt happy. Even if his only use ended up being an arm support when Gilbert got tired. The young half Canadian felt a smile tugging at his lips,but it was quickly lost when he felt himself being tugged away and tossed to the back of the line.

After regaining his balance, Matthew glanced over his shoulder and just rolled his eyes at how typical the situation was. Alfred must have had some _exciting_ news that he just had to tell Gilbert so he decided to fling his little brother outta the way. And not to anyone one's surprise, Gilbert seemed to momentarily forget Matthew anyway.

Matthew sighed and felt a comforting hand on his shoulder a moment later. He turns to see Arthur, whose cheeks were rosy pink and with hair slightly messier than it was before, giving him a sympathetic look. "Stick with me chap. This'll be a long year."

Matthew adjusted his glasses and nodded his head. "Um, oka-!"

Matthew never had a chance to finish his sentence, for as his luck would always have it, a ball came hurdling toward his face and hit him square in the nose. In response, he fell over like a stack of pancakes with a loud _THUMP!_

"Ah sorry!" Matthias called from the front of the line. He held his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and called, "DID I HIT SOMEONE? NO? OKAY COOL!"

Arthur stared at Matthew for moment before glaring at the sky. "This will be a hellish year."

* * *

 **Not dead! Sorry for delay it's been awhile. I've already got outline for next chapter mostly done but idk when it'll be out.**

 **Sorry if you don't like how I portray a character btw, it's all about character development tho and they're all young here. Soo,...**

 **(Anyway when I was gone I got really into Hamilton, just throwing that out there for any fellow Hammy Lovers)**

 **Please Read and Review!**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **5/29/17**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Kind of Homo: Chapter Six_**

 _Age 9_

Matthew was embarrassed to say the least. He always longed the day he would be remembered, but right now, all he wanted was to be invisible.

The teacher held her hand on the blonde's shoulder as he stepped into the classroom. He held the ice pack to his face and dabbed any blood droplets with a tissue, as every head in the room turned his way.

The teacher must have noticed his discomfort because she led him to his seat and clapped her hands, directing the students to get out their scissors and glue.

"Wait, why is his nose bleeding?" Matthias stood up. The class erupted in giggles as the teacher snapped at him to sit down. He did as told, but still expressed out loud to Berwald that he had no idea what was going on.

Matthew plopped down on his chair. Vash rolled his eyes and picked up his book. Eduard looked as if he wanted to say something but stayed quiet. Lovino, on the other hand, scrutinized the side of Matthew's face and it only made his anxiety grow. When the injured boy raised his eyes and saw Gilbert along with Francis and Antonio nodding at him with big grins and thumbs up, the anxiety leaped into full capacity.

"Good job Pancake Boy! That bruise makes you look tough and that helps you look cool!" Gilbert assured him, gesturing to his own face that had it's share of scars.

Francis and Antonio crossed their arms and nodded. Antonio had a few cuts and bruises along with a cute neon pink bandage on his cheek. Francis, on the other hand, had a scar free face for the most part. But his arms were not spared. He had one specific scar that started at his elbow and expanded down the bag of his arm only a short distance, but it was deep. It was from the time they all went to Antonio's grandfather's farm. There was one rooster that wasn't very fond of Francis for whatever reason, so to get away from it he tried climbing the fence. In retrospect it wasn't a very good idea, since he did end up falling down the wire and cutting his elbow on a stray nail.

The only closure he got was that the mean rooster was their dinner that night, but Francis actually felt a little bad about it. (Especially because Antonio named all of them! It made it more personal!)

In reality, Matthew didn't really care about looking cool, but he nodded as he avoided eye contact. When he nervously looked up, he noted Arthur and Lukas shaking their heads in a warning matter as the trio found interest in something else.

Lovino raised an eyebrow at the blonde and slapped his palm to his forehead. "Okay. So how did you get involved with those idiots?"

Matthew held the ice pack over his eyes and flushed. "I'm not... I don't really know... But I don't know if I like it.. "He answered softly.

The Italian scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Don't let them make you nervous. Just tell them to get lost. They're morons."

Just to end the conversation, Matthew nodded as the teacher finished taking after recess attendance and stood up to start the lesson. Science was the hourly subject and the lesson was all about the food chain. She directed the student to get out scissors and glue for the activity before stating the directions. To wrap it up she announced they would be working in partners.

As soon as the words left her mouth Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert all raised their hands. Without even looking away from the board the educator blinked and said, "No, you can only work two per group."

All three boys simultaneously lowered their hands silently.

She capped the marker she was holding and pulled out her phone before holding it up where the timer was started. "You have a minute and thirty seconds to find partners. Go!"

Gilbert immediately abandoned his seat to join Antonio and Francis at their desks. "Okay I'll verse Toni first, then when I win you guys can go against each other."

The blonde and brunette nodded and Antonio held up a fist. The albino followed his movements. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Awwww!" The Spaniard whined when seeing the outcome of him throwing paper. Gilbert cackled and snipped his finger scissors with a triumphant grin.

The sulking boy turned to Francis who was patiently holding out a fist already. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

" _Oui_!" The blonde cheered as Toni was once again disappointed .

The maroon eyed trouble maker pointed an accusing finger at Antonio and laughed. "LOSER! Now go find some lower being who isn't awesome!"

Francis wiped away a fake tear and stepped forward. He threw his arms around Antonio's shoulders and rubbed his cheek against the other boy's. "I will miss you!"

After being shoved away and watching Gilbert take his now empty seat, Antonio scanned the room looking for another person booted from their trio. But what could they do? That's why Francis came up with their solution, and boy did Antonio think that was the smartest idea since the invention of domesticating plants!

He caught sight of Matthias who appeared to be having a stare down with Arthur, as Lukas stood to the side looking almost indifferent.

"Lukas has to be my partner! He's MY best friend!" The spiky haired blonde boy argued as he snagged Lukas by the shoulder and dropped his chin on his head.

Arthur turned red and by the look on his face, he was having some sort of internal conflict on whether he should continue to be stubborn or suck it up. After a moment, he let out a breath and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Take him!"

He stomped away as Lukas' eyes widened. "Wait. You're actually gonna leave me with him?" His face looked confused but his voice still sounded monotone .

"Yay Lukas!" Arthur heard Mathias shout over his shoulder. His eyes grazed over the room before they locked with a pair of green ones. Both Antonio and Arthur frowned. Unfortunately, the two of them were just about the only ones without partners and they were running out of time.

The Brit's eyes narrowed and he glanced to the far side of the room to find Matthew and Lovino sitting together. He sighed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so he unhappily walked over there.

"Hey Matthew," he greeted as Antonio's eyes followed his movement. Arthur cleared his throat and ignored Lovino's glare as he asked. "Would you consider being my partner?"

The shy blonde slowly lowered his ice pack and he looked between the boys in front of him. "I'm, uh, sorry. Lovino and I are already part-!"

"Great!" Arthur faked a smile and grabbed Matthew's wrist before dragging him away.

Matthew shot Lovino an apologetic look over his shoulder. The Italian just pointed and yelled, "Hey! Give me my partner back!"

Realizing the great opportunity, Antonio skipped over and threw his arms up. "I guess we are partners!"

Lovino met the Spaniard's gaze and he outwardly cringed. "No!"

The alarm in the front of the classroom went off and the teacher clapped as the class turned their attention toward the front. "Everyone have partners?"

"Yes!" " NO! " The simultaneous answers came.

She arched a brow. "No? Lovino you don't have a partner?"

Antonio waved his hand as if it was all no big deal. "Yes he does! It's me! Antonio!"

As the class giggled or rolled their eyes at Antonio's choice of addressing himself, Lovino scrunched up his face and hated the distress in his voice when he said, "I _really_ don't wanna be his partner!''

The teacher sighed. She could tell Lovino was still having some anxiety about the new school, and she couldn't blame him not wanting to be Toni's partner. He was kind of a trouble maker, but even so he was a sweet kid. So in the end she had to shake her head and say, "Sorry, Lovino that's not how it works here. Please have a seat."

The furious boy looked as if he wanted to argue more, but he begrudgingly sat down as a smiling Antonio plopped down too.

After the rightful supplies was passed out, the groups got to work. Lovino immediately jumped on coloring the cut out pictured, a frown gracing his features the whole time.

Antonio glanced at his own work, noticing the sloppiness compared to Lovino's in the line coloring. "Wow! Lovi you are really good at coloring!"

The shorter boy didn't even pause for a moment and muttered a, "Shut your damn mouth."

Antonio's eyes widened and he held a fist up to his mouth in shock. "Wow! You say bad words? You must be very mature!"

Lovino picked up his scissors and for a moment he considered stabbing the annoying kid next to him. But then he figured it would probably dampen his reputation so he began cutting the papers and grumbled, "Do you know how annoying your voice is?"

Antonio blinked. "Ha really? People tell me I have a good singing voice though. Wanna hear?"

"No."

" Ha! _Si_ , I get it. You probably just wanna focus. You wanna get a good grade on this. You must really care about your grades! "

Lovino stopped and swung his scissors around. "No! I just want this day to go faster so I can go home and eat dinner! I'm starving!"

Toni laughed and glanced down at his still unfinished coloring squares. "We just had lunch! Why are you so hungry!"

Lovino pouted angrily and Toni bit back a giggle. "I didn't! My grandpa forgot to pack my lunch! But he didn't forget about Feli!"

Antonio widened his eyes in worry. He knew just how miserable it could get when he didn't eat lunch. Poor Lovino! "Ooo! I have some snacks in my backpack! Want some?"

Lovino narrowed his eyes and dropped his scissors. "Well, what are you waiting for you dorkus?"

Antonio glanced at the teacher who was busying herself on her computer. He glanced at the open door that led to the hallway and and snuck over rather suspiciously. Luckily, no one was paying attention so he quickly left the classroom and entered the coat room where their personal items resided.

He found his green backpack buried under a bunch of coats and unzipped the front pouch. He briefly debated on what snack Lovino would like, but ultimately decided to bring both and let him decide.

As he entered the room once again, he stole a quick glance at his best friends. Francis was currently panicking because he got glue in his luscious blonde locks. Gilbert was laughing his butt off at the Frenchman's misfortune.

The brunette took his seat next to Lovino who abandoned his work and was occupied with examining his desktop. Toni smiled and dropped a bag of Cheerios in front of him.

Lovino looked skeptical but picked up the bag and ate a single cheerio. He stuck his tongue out and spat, "These suck!"

Antonio wasn't sure how Lovino could actually really taste it with only one little baby piece, but he just ruffled his own hair awkwardly and said, "Sorry Lovino! But maybe you'll like this?" He held up another bag with a tomato in it.

Lovino eyed the fruit and his eyes gleamed, a smile almost appearing on his face. He snatched the bag and eagerly took a bite before cringing and shutting his eyes tightly. "This sucks! What, did you buy this in a store?"

Antonio was glad to hear others grew their own gardens. Francis and Gilbert thought it was the weirdest thing! (They were even more judgmental about the fact he talked to his plants.) Even so, he pouted and threw his head back. "It's hard to grow our own in this weather!"

Lovino rolled his eyes and waved a hand. "Try harder _idiota_."

Antonio sat up in his chair and his eyes lit up. "During growing season I'll bring you one everyday, but starting tomorrow you'll have to get used to these!"

The Italian raised a brow, and despite hating the quality of fruit it was, he took another bite.

Seeing the doubt on his face, Antonio nodded. "Really I wi-!"

" Having a picnic are we? " A voice cut in. They looked up to find their fourth grade teacher in front of them with a disappointed look on her face and hands on her hips. "And work isn't even done?"

Lovino widened his eyes and moved the tomato so he was hiding it behind his back and he used his free hand to wipe tomato juice off his face. Antonio awkwardly laughed.

She sent them to the trash with the snacks before sending them in the hallway. Lovino's face flared up as the class laughed at their retreating figures.

The boys sat down next to one another against the wall, Antonio situating himself so their was a comfortable distance between them. "Wow Lovi! You didn't yell at me yet!"

Lovino looked away and hugged his knees to cover his face. "I'm just happy I got a little bit of food... My stomach doesn't hurt as bad anymore.."

Toni grinned. "Aww Lovi!"

" I'm not thanking you, stupid! "

They went silent for a few moments, Lovino trying to forget today's events as Antonio replayed them in his head. "Wait, so you aren't mad we got sent in the hall?"

Lovino shrugged and stared at the mural of kids doing cartwheels in a field on the wall across from them. "Nah," he said distracted. "At my old school I was sent ou-!" He immediately cut himself when he realized what he was saying .

But Antonio already knew where the story was going and he smiled cheekily. "Ooo Lovi, you were a trouble maker!"

" Shut up! "

Toni laughs, ultimately deciding he and Lovino were going to be friends. He wasn't sure if Francis and Gilbert were up for the challenge but he for whatever reason was. Lovino was just a cool little dude apparently. So instead of pushing the topic he said, "Lovino you have nice hair."

Said boy looked away but still barked a "Shut up."

Toni hummed and thought about his new friend more. "Your brother is also adorable!"

Lovino jumped to his feet, and Antonio wasn't quite sure what the trigger word was but he soon knew why Lovino was thrown out of class all the time when he had a fist hit him square in the face.

When the two were allowed back into the class, Matthew quickly realized he wasn't the only one to get a bloody nose that day.

* * *

 **Hi!**

 **New chapter. it sucked yes, and I have been gone yes. Next chapter should be a more Francis chapter and then hopefully it will be the whole squad! (Including Lovi, Matthew, Alfred and Arthur as well),**

 **Sorry I'm advance for mistakes or suck plot.**

 **Please leave review I'm low-key starting to lose motivation for this story and I have general plans for it but I may have to cut it short. Review suggestions please!**

 **~iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **7/1/17**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Kind of Homo: Chapter Seven**_

 _September, Age 9_

Francis quickly wrapped a scarf around his neck and pulled on his winter gloves, before waving to his mother and stepping out the door.

Francis used to love the fall, the colors of the leaves, and the fashionable coats he got to wear for the weather. But this year was especially windy, and he honestly hated it. His nose was runny and he was fighting an obnoxious cough. Nonetheless, he was still on his way to Gilbert's house for Friday night.

Antonio was probably over there already, his mom working late hours into the night and his older brother off doing who knows what.

The blonde sniffled a little when a gust of wind wafted into his face and he rolled his eyes in annoyance at mother nature. Gilbert lived several blocks away, so once he turned down his desired street in the subdivision, he noticed he could see another figure down a ways. He squinted and nearly grinned when he realized who it was.

Fluffing his hair up a little, Francis sprinted down the sidewalk until he was a sidewalk square behind the familiar face. "Arthurrrrr!"

Arthur didn't even turn around. His shoulders tensed up and Francis could picture the look on his face. "Just tell me what you want and go away?"

Francis seemed to consider this but smugly shook his head. " _Non_." He said.

Arthur scowled. "Well, what are you even doing out here? Your pretty pants are gonna freeze to you if you don't get out of this weather soon "

Francis rolled his eyes and played along. "Yes, well, my pants are completely fabulous compared to your trash. So if I was stuck wearing them forever, that wouldn't be a problem like it would for you." He gestured to Arthur's clothing.

"And to answer your question," he continued. "I'm going to the sweet Gilbert's house."

Arthur arched a brow. "Gilbert is not sweet!"

Francis kind off half smiled. "Okay, thats true. But Toni will be there, and he is super sweet!"

Arthur crossed his arms and huffed. "Antonio is an immature, completely oblivious airhead. Being sweet is just a nice way of putting it."

The Frenchman narrowed his eyes. "Antonio is by far better than you! And if he's naive, then you're just... Butthurt! _Oui_ , that's something Gilbert would say!"

Arthur mumbled something under his breath but Francis elected to ignore it and say, "besides I'm going to my friend's house. That's not something you ever get to say _jerk_."

He knew he got the British boy on that one, so the silence wasn't surprising. He smiled to himself and basked in his glory.

Yup, Arthur was usually alone. In the cold months he stayed cooped up in his house and in the summer he would just read on his front porch. Francis and the others would often pay him visits just to taunt him but they would eventually have to leave when he had enough and sat in the backyard instead.

Sure, Lukas was his friend. But that unfortunate kid's mom was family friends with Matthias' family, meaning poor Lukas was usually stuck with him. And Arthur was always alone.

And Francis knew that, so when his mind actually wrapped around how Arthur was actually off doing something in the neighborhood, his eyebrows shot up.

"Wait a minute. What are you even doing out here?" He asked, holding back an atrocious cough he wouldn't dare let this cute but enraging human being hear.

Apparently it was something Arthur needed to rant about, because he immediately stomped his foot and his hands formed fists. "My stupid brothers!"

"Brothers, huh? Oh yes, I kind of remember them. One had curly hair. How many do you have again?"

''Four. " Arthur grumbled.

Francis let out a smirk. He bathed in the glory of being an only child. He poked Arthur on the cheek. "Honhon!"

Arthur grabbed his finger and bent it backwards, only stopping five seconds after Francis began squealing in pain. The long haired blonde rubbed his sore finger and sent an accusing glare at the Brit before asking, "did they just kick you out?"

Arthur flushed and turned his head away. "They sent me to go get them some snacks from the drug store because they claimed I was being 'obnoxious .'"

Francis cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Well your brothers sound quite amazing."

Arthur scoffed. "Well when Peter's old enough to walk around the neighborhood alone, it's gonna be hell for him, I'm not taking any of this lightly. The others might be off to college at that time but I'll still be here."

Francis twirled a strand of hair. "Well, I wouldn't expect any less from you. You are the spawn of Satan at it's worse."

"Shut up Francis."

Francis clicked his tongue. This walk seemed pretty long. "Either way, will your brothers not let you in if you come back empty handed? Too bad you can't just go to a _friend's_ house and wait it out."

This time, Arthur stopped walking and turned to face Francis. He poked him in the chest and shouted, "would you stop taunting me!?"

The Frenchman blinked innocently. "I didn't do anything of the sort! It's not my fault you are a lonely piece of _p_ _oubelle_ —!"

BAM!

Francis couldn't even finish his thought before Arthur swung his fist in front of him, slugging him on the side of the face. He merely stumbled backwards, and held his bruising face with one hand. After a moment of stunned staring, Francis pulled back a sleeve and stomped forward. "Did you just punch me—!?"

Arthur answered him by lunging forward and knocking him on the ground in front of the house they were passing.

"I hate you so much Bonnefoy!" Arthur growled as he pushed the taller boys face into the grass.

Francis resorted to biting his hand and pushing him off before rolling on top of him and slapping him across the face. The two continued to grapple and roll around for mere seconds before the owner of the house stepped onto her porch and started screaming at them.

The boys immediately let go of each other and jumped up, running down the street in panic. Once a good distance away, the two slowed down but we're both panting, neither of them being the most athletic fourth graders.

The two remained silent for a second but Francis' throbbing face made him so mad, he turned to begin making fun of the Brit again. When he opened his mouth to speak, the words right on the tip of his tongue, he noticed something completely out of the ordinary. Arthur was...wiping tears from his eyes?

Francis almost didn't believe it. Sure, he knows he has made the other boy cry before. He sure knows how to dish out some mean insults and on more than one occasion he has left Arthur on the verge of tears, especially when they were younger.

But he never actually saw the Brit cry before, and by the way it seemed, Arthur preferred to keep it that way. He rubbed at his eyes furiously, desperate to not let his slightly older classmate catch him.

Francis clicked his tongue as he walked carefully behind the crying boy. Arthur still hadn't said a word since they were punching each other, and the Frenchman 's face hurt at the mere thought of it. Either way though, Francis hated to make someone cry— well at least when he had to be around to see it happen.

He took a breath and placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Look, Arthur I—are you shivering?"

He watched as Arthur shrugged him off his shoulder and muttered an angry, "Sod off!"

Francis scowled, doing a run over with his eyes on him. "Why in the world are you not wearing a coat?!"

Arthur turned around quickly and threw his arms up, "I don't know! Why don't you mind your own business?"

Without waiting another moment Francis unwrapped the scarf from around his neck and tossed it at the bloodshot eyed boy's face. Sure, he was a bit under the weather and sharing clothes was probably a bad idea, but Arthur would be in way worse shape if he caught a chill.

Arthur frowned under the scarf and tossed it on the pavement. "I don't want your bloody scarf."

Francis gasped and swooped his scarf into his hands quickly. "Have some respect! First off, this is not bloody! And second, my great grandmother made this! She was a fashion prodigy!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and Francis could see him visibly wince. Gilbert always said his slaps were wimpy, but Arthur proved this statement to be otherwise. "You have my condolences," he said sarcastically.

Francis eyebrow irked in irritation, but he held out the plaid red and black scarf again. "Use the scarf. You're freezing!"

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "No."

Francis huffed in annoyance and stepped forward, physically pulling the scarf around Arthur's neck. If he had to be completely honest, he had to make sure he didn't subconsciously choke the stubborn boy. "Take it!"

Arthur was already pulling it off as soon as he took a step back. "I'm not a baby, I don't need it!"

"Well only babies cry, you crybaby!

"I wasn't crying!"

"Yes you were!"

"You're such a filthy liar!" Arthur's face was a blushing mess and he was holding the scarf with his two fingers like it was infected.

"And only idiots go outside without coats!"

Arthur dropped the fashion accessory and stepped on it as he charged at Francis again. "You don't know anything!"

This time, Francis was ready and caught Arthur by the shoulder and shoved him roughly backwards. "Oh my gosh Arthur why—!"

"HEY GUYS! "

The boys fight was immediately interrupted by a new neighborhood face but familiar voice. They both snapped their heads towards the owner of said voice and watched as he grinned widely. It was noted that his 'shadow' was trailing closely behind.

His grin faltered for a moment when he sensed the atmosphere and caught that Francis and Arthur were standing nearly nose to nose with killer looks on their faces and hands balled in fists. "Whoah, whoah, what's going on here?"

Francis glanced at Arthur, and the two seemed to have a silent agreement that they would keep this between them. Alfred had a big mouth, if anything was said, by Monday everyone would know that the two of them attempted to physically fight and ended up losing to some old lady yelling at them to get off her front lawn.

Arthur backed up and cleared his throat. "Nothing," he narrowed his eyes at Alfred. He hated nosiness almost as much as hated Mr. and Mrs. Bonnefoy for giving birth to the specie known as Francis.

Alfred raised a brow. "Are you sure? You both look like you ran into a brick wall! Well, mostly you Francis!"

Francis frowned and cupped his cheek self consciously. "Pftt. Thanks for that."

Matthew poked his head out from behind his older brother. Alfred shrugged and his smile returned. "So what are you guys up to then?"

Arthur crossed his arms and tightened his arms around himself. He looked back and forth between the twins and relented. "I'm just going to the drugstore to get sweets for my brothers."

Alfred eyes immediately sparked and he hopped a sidewalk square closer to Arthur. He grabbed the Brit's hand and his smile took up half his face. "Can we come?!"

Arthur flushed and snatched his hand away. "No! Why are you even out here anyway? It's not like it's the best weather to play outside in!"

Alfred adjusted his crooked glasses and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, mom said Mattie and I were being too rowdy so she made us go outside.."

Arthur raised a brow and glanced at Francis before looking back at the brothers. "Alfred I can understand—"

"Aw Matthew!" Francis chuckled, gliding over and patting Matthew on the head. "I didn't know you could be tough!"

The anxious boy smiled smally and shrugged a bit. He went to answer when Alfred threw an arm around his shoulder and immediately began giving him a noogie. "Nah Mattie's not tough!"

Under his arm, Matthew frowned but gave up on struggling. Arthur may or may not have caught that.

Nevertheless, he shivered one last time before turning on the sidewalk and continued his journey. The overcast sky was reminding him of the times he visited his family in Britain. He hated feeling nostalgic.

"Wait Arthur! We can come with you right?" Alfred called again.

"No." He answered without looking over his shoulder.

"Please? "

Francis fluffed his hair. "Of course you can go with Artie! He was just telling me about how he wishes he had more friends!"

Arthur paused and turned around to start up the useless argument all over again, but before he could even lock his eyes on the frenchmen, someone was already dragging him down the sidewalk.

"No time for that Artie! Francis said it was ok so it is, so let's go get candy!"

The smaller blonde's eyes widened to the size of saucers and he struggled to pull himself in the other direction. Alfred continued to blab on and Matthew walked silently next to them. Realizing he was no match for his ridiculously strong classmate, Arthur gave up. He stole a glance over his shoulder and watched as Francis smoothly picked up the scarf and tossed it loosely around his shoulders. He smirked and waved girlishly. Arthur furrowed his brows and turned forward.

For a few moments, Francis eyed the trio's retreating figures. Arthur was still being dragged along and he could even still hear Alfred's booming voice from way back there. Francis noted that Matthew had his hands behind his back and seemed to be doing some sort of nervous hand exercises.

He shrugged, a sly smile gracing his features, and turned the corner where he could see Gilbert's house a few spaces down. He was actually pretty satisfied with what he did, and he personally believed it was a good deed. He made fun of Arthur for being a loner and it hurt his feelings right? Well, he just gave Arthur two people to hang out with. So if Arthur was going to be so picky about every little thing, he will never be pleased about anything!

Okay. So maybe he sent Alfred with Arthur because he wanted the annoying kid to suffer a little bit. But hey, he deserved it! Nobody punches Francis Bonnefoy in the face and gets away with it!

Once hopping up the steps and wiping his shoes on the carpet outside, Francis let himself in. He cut through the kitchen and made his way into the living room where Antonio and Gilbert were burrowed in a bunch of blankets and had their eyes glued to the screen. "I'm heeeeerrree!"

Antonio paused the game for a second causing Gilbert to scowl. "Yay! Francypants! What took so long?"

Francis stripped off his coat, gloves, and scarf before shrugging. "Just some minor delays."

Gilbert rolled his shoulders and raised a brow. "Looks like you ran into a brick wall!"

Recalling what Alfred said, Francis scoffed. "No I—" then remembering what he and Arthur agreed, he said, "um yes. Brick wall."

Gilbert cackled and grabbed the bowl of snacks off the coffee table. "Loser!"

Francis crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Well, I also got a bit distracted."

Antonio walked back to Francis from where his backpack was laying next to the front door. He had retrieved a few bandaids for his friend. His mother always made him carry around a small first aid kit, considering how often he got hurt. (Especially after he got punched last week, his mom was about ready to go _loco_ on the school.)

"What did you get distracted by?"

Francis accepted the bandaid and sat down on the floor as Antonio helped him apply them. "Well, I ran into the Burnt Crumpet."

Antonio drew his face back a bit and visibly cringed. "Boy, that's unlucky."

Gilbert produced a sound that they assumed was agreement, but his mouth was full of pretzels, so that gave him an excuse for such an ungodly sound.

Francis chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, he sucks. But I also saw Alfred."

The albino stood up from his spot in his blankets and stretched his arms. "We need to invite him over one of the days. Alfred is pretty awesome — and that's coming from me!"

Antonio patted a bandage over the French boys cheek, after wasting three good ones because it kept getting stuck to his finger. "Yeah, I think Alfred is cool. He's pretty loud. So he must be happy! Anyways, we're lucky we got him in our class."

Francis winced as his cheek throbbed from the pressure and then he let out an irritated breath. "Sure, yeah, he's whatever. I kinda like him because whenever he's around I feel like Arthur is even more annoyed than when he's stuck with us."

Gilberts jaw dropped. "No way."

Francis smirked and nodded. "Yes way." He went to stand up but then remembered, "Oh yeah. Matthew was there too."

Gilbert cocked his head to the side. "The dorky marshmallow huh?"

Antonio clasped his hands together and held them behind his head as support. "I haven't seen Matthew a lot at recess lately."

Francis waved his hand. "That's because he got a bloody nose last week. Matthew is a squishy boy. He doesn't wanna get hurt probably."

Gilbert nodded and walked over. "Yeah, you can't just punch him like this!" He promptly punched his Spanish friend in the arm with about half his strength .

"HEY that hurt Gil!" Antonio whined before punching Gilbert back. Gilbert cackled and punched him again! And before they knew it, the two were in a heated game of punchies.

"Toni you punch like a girl!"

"Girls are cool! " Antonio huffed out as he socked Gil's reddening arm again. When Antonio got hit again, and Francis had to listen to a whole new round of ridiculous insane laughter, he noticed Ludwig sitting at the dining table. He could see from here that he was struggling to keep his marbles.

Persing his smirking lips, Francis stepped forward and stopped Gilbert from taking his next turn. "You both suck, now go finish your round in Mario Kart so I can beat you on Peach Beach!"

Antonio rubbed his sore arm and stuck out his bottom lip. "My arm hurts really bad now Francy!"

Francis held out a hand. "Lemme see. I'll give it a get better kiss."

Antonio smiled and placed his arm in Francis' grip. He proceeded to give his friend a quick kiss on the arm. Antonio beamed and stared at his arm as if it were brand new. "Wow! It feels better already!"

Francis blew Antonio a kiss and fluttered his eyelashes. Antonio played along and caught the kiss. "Well, my kisses are magic!" Francis held his pointer finger to his lip like it was a secret.

"Gross! " They both turned to Gilbert who had his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "You guys are such girly boys!"

Francis walked over slowly. "What do you have against girls..." He drew out before lunging at Gilbert and wrapping his arms around him. "Your turn!" he sang, then pecked the boy's arm.

After a moment of shock, Gilbert threw Francis off himself rather easily, but despite the whole situation all three of them were laughing.

"Wait I got it!" Antonio giggled as he wiped the kiss he "caught" earlier all over the maroon eyed boy's shoulder.

"No! You're so unawesome!"

After a few more minutes of pointless ridiculousness, the boys sat down to finish their level, and Francis found himself wandering toward Ludwig. The younger blonde was hunched over the table with a few worksheets spread around.

"Are you doing homework? It's Friday!"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow and looked up from his work. "Yeah. It's just some science and math. I didn't start as soon as I got home from school, so I'm doing it now."

Francis blinked like it was the most outrageous things he's heard, but decided not to comment. His eyes scanned the sheets, wondering if he would remember any of the stuff he learned in third grade. Deciding that he in fact could not remember anything, he let his eyes drift off to a page of notes Ludwig had sitting out about the five senses. At the top was something he never thought he would see on a Beilschmidt brother's notebook.

Okay, so maybe Gilbert would do something as juvenile as that, but definitely not Ludwig.

"Did you doodle all over your notes?"

Ludwig looked confused when he looked up, "What—?!" But then his eyes fell on the page and he let out a sigh of annoyance. "Right. No, that is from that new kid—Feliciano— he won't stop following me around."

Francis hummed to show he was listening. His grin grew wider as he leaned over the table for a closer look. His fingers traced over the sloppy hearts and cat heads decorating Ludwig's name. "Feliciano, wasn't he cute?"

Ludwig narrowed his eyes. "He's so annoying. I can't get rid of him! But Kiku actually likes having him around so I really can't do anything. I've made him cry twice, but he always comes back."

"Awww, cute lil' Luddy is making friends~!" The older blonde cooed as he grabbed the German boy's cheek.

Ludwig flushed and pushed him away. "Don't ever do that again." He said stoically. But Francis just laughed again and patted his head. He finally noted that Ludwig's hair wasn't slicked back like normal and was damp.

"Can't believe that ray of sunshine is Lovino's brother."

"Did you say Lovino?" Antonio asked, taking his eyes off the screen for a second. Gilbert took advantage of that and dropped a banana peel in front of him, resulting in his doom.

Antonio noticed he had no chance of winning so he dropped his controller much to Gilbert's excitment, and skipped over to the table.

"You quitter! I WON BECAUSE I'M AWESOME!"

Antonio ignored the cheers going off behind him and glanced at the table. "Do you know Lovino?" He widened his eyes at the third grader expectantly.

Ludwig frowned. "No. But I've heard enough stories about him to last a lifetime.." He groaned and put a hand to his forehead. Just thinking of the pasta faced-quick speaking Italian gave him a migraine.

"Then what were you guys talking about?"

Francis picked up the notebook and pointed at the doodles. "His brother is friends with Ludwig here! He drew these."

Antonio scanned the page. "That's cute!"

Gilbert peeked over their shoulders. "There should be skulls and birds!"

Antonio held the notes to his chest protectivly. "But when I met Feliciano he was so cute! Hearts are perfect for him!"

Gilbert's face froze for a second and the gears began turning on his head. "Oh yeah, I've seen that little noodle before, running around the halls. He is like a little puppy I just wanna hug him!"

The three boys began talking over each other, sharing opinions or comparisons on the younger Vargas child. Ludwig sat there for about another minute before deciding he couldn't handle it anymore. He had a whole weekend away from that kid and he was still being haunted! He piled up his papers and neatly stuck them in his bag before plucking the notes out of Antonio's hand and walking toward the stairs.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" The brunette cried.

"I can't concentrate with you three idiots here!" He said in an annoyed tone as he walked up the stairs.

"Luddy no! " Gilbert shouted, but his little brother was already gone. After a moment of realization, the albino silently thanked God that his grandfather didn't come rioting down the stairs, demanding them to be quieter.

He turned to his friends and shrugged like, 'whadaya gonna do?'

Antonio stroked his chin. "I wonder if Lovi can draw too.."

Francis cocked his head to the side before coughing into his arm. Dang it! And he was doing so good at managing it! He cleared his throat and smiled, before throwing an arm around Toni's shoulder. He didn't seem to care about the germs. "You seem like you got a crush on this Lovi~"

Toni looked up and laughed. "Haha! I don't know about that! He's kind of hit me a lot in the last week!" Francis didn't add that Antonio still is trying to befriend him for whatever reason.

"You let Gilbert punch you though?"

Gilbert poured the rest of the bowl of pretzels in his mouth and talked in the middle of chewing, "but that means I have a 'crush' on him, because I CRUSHED HIM! HAHAHA! I'm so awesome!" He nearly started choking on one of the salty snacks while laughing at his word play.

Francis face palmed and Antonio narrowed his eyes, still not getting it completely. "Ohhh you have a crush on me!?"

Gilbert stopped laughing and widened his eyes. "Heck no! I was just kidding. In fact, I'm already married!"

Francis raised a brow. Knowing there was no way Gilbert was referring to all the times they played wedding as kids he plainly said, "really? Who in the right mind would marry you?"

Gilbert smiled triumphantly. "Me!"

"What? "

"I married myself! I'm the only on awesome enough to do it, so it happened! Luddy was there, so it's for realz. Suck it losers!"

Antonio broke into a wider smile and began giggling uncontrollably. "You're so weird Gil!"

Francis grinned and skidded into the kitchen with a questioning Gilbert behind him. He picked up the home phone hanging on the wall and Gilbert continued nagging him as Antonio entered the room.

Holding the phone to his ear, Francis' eyes scanned the list of names and phone numbers tapped to the wall. Grandpa Beilschmidt really was old school. Coming to the name he needed, he plugged in the numbers and listened as the other line rang.

"I swear Francy I will cut off all your hair and feed it to Gilbird! Answer me!"

Francis gasped and turned away. But he was hiding a cheeky smile. "I'm just calling Roderich to tell him that you know you'll be lonely for the rest of your life, so you married yourself!"

Gilbert's jaw dropped and his face flushed. "No it's because I'm AWESOME! NOT LONELY YOU STALE BAGUETTE!" He reached for it but Francis swiftly stepped a away.

"Hello?"

" _Bonjour_ Mrs. Edelstein! Can I please speak to Roderich?"

Francis ran into the living room but when Gilbert caught up he went flying forward and landed in a pile of blankets. Gilbert pinned him down and sat on top of him.

"Toni! "

Antonio caught the phone when it was lamely tossed to him. He held it to his ear.

"Hello? Helllloooo? I swear Gilbert your jokes aren't funny." He heard Roderichs voice say.

"No! It's Toni! "

"What do you want?"

"I wanna tell you that Gilbert—OOFF!" the home phone was knocked out of his hand as his whole body flew backwards from getting smacked upside the head with a pillow by the grinning albino.

He retrieved the phone like a trophy and yelled into it, " YOU JUST GOT PRANKED SON! " He then hung up and chucked it across the room, sending the batteries sprawling out.

Francis sat up before promptly flopping over again. "Toni! You dumb head!"

Antonio rubbed his head awkwardly. " _Lo_ _siento_!"

Gilbert flopped down on the blankets and rolled over so he was facing Francis. They locked eyes and Gilbert grinned. "I told you, no one can match up to my AWESOME!"

* * *

 **This took far too long to write... I had half done for awhile but man I'm lazy... Anyways!**

 **I feel like this chapter was a bit off? But idk. It was the Francis chapter lol and he's a bit weird so it's all good ^—^**

 **I'm gonna start adding months along with the ages i think, because so many chapters takes place when they're at the same age and I feel like if I don't mention it in the chapter, it's hard for you guys to know how much later one chapter is taking place from the previous one.**

 **Note** I know I make certain comments in the chapters about the characters personal lives (ex: how Arthur says Francis doesn't "get anything" when he calls him dumb for not wearing a coat, or even last chapter when Lovi says his gramps forgets about him) but in the way the story is written, I have no clue if I can include all the reasons and backstories for them. I will try, but I can't promise.**

 **^^Though if you do have any questions feel free to ask (i may not be able to answer cause i never actually know what i will end up including and no one likes spoilers**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **7/26/17**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Kind of Homo: Chapter 8**_

 _January, Age 9-10_

"Okay, so the streamers will go right across here and then there will about five different color balloons with different designs and—!"

"Francy, it's gonna be my birthday so I already know it will be AWESOME!"

Francis pursed his lips and watched as Gilbert threw his fist in the air. There were two weeks before the albino's birthday and they were having a sleepover at his house at the moment. The sleepover wasn't necessarily to plan the party, but Francis couldn't help it.

Antonio raised his hand and began talking as he often did in class. "Hey we need to make sure we get helium balloons so we can suck all the air out of them!"

The German grinned and pulled his blanket around himself. "Yeah our voices will get all squeaky and we'll sound like Elizabeta when she's angry!"

Despite his fondness of Elizabeta these days, Antonio still found it in him to chuckle at Gilbert's joke.

The blonde boy merely flipped some hair over his shoulder. "I just can't believe you're gonna be ten years old Gilbert! You'll finally be a big boy like me!"

The albino smirked before rolling his eyes. "Yeah, but you're a year behind where you should be, you could be making it rain in the fifth grade right now but you were too stupid Francy!"

Francis gasped and put a hand on his chest. "Excuse me Gilbert but as you already know my parents tried to homeschool to keep me from getting corrupted by this terrible American school system!"

Gilbert waved a hand. "And as weeee know," he spoke mockingly, gestering to himself and Toni, "it didn't work out so well and they threw you in kindergarten with us to redo the year you failed with them!"

Francis shrugged and stroked his chin. "Well I'll get my driver's license before you, and be legally an adult before you, and will be able to drink before you and—!"

"NOT IF I DO IT FIRST!" Gilbert jumped to his feet and pointed a finger down at the frenchmen. He lips curled into a quirky smile and without breaking eye contact yelled, "TONI, MY HORSE!"

"Gilbert shut up!"

With their jaws dropped, they all snapped their heads toward the staircase where Ludwig stood in his sweatpants, socks, and Elementary School hoodie. He held a book in his hand and appeared to be scowling. "You guys are so loud I can't hear myself think!" The unusually-mature-for-his-age kid said.

Gilbert closed his eyes and smiled at the ceiling. "Say what you want my heart will not listen!"

Ludwig narrowed his eyes and stomped back into his room.

As if completely ignoring the encounter they just had, Gilbert turned back to Francis. "Toni my horse!" He demanded in an admittedly quieter voice.

Antonio jumped to his feet and planted himself in front of Gilbert who grabbed his shoulders and hopped up on his back. "Onward!"

The Spaniard wobbly stepped forward and Francis widened his eyes. He jumped up as well and slid in his socks down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Antonio stumbled forward and avoided tripping over a pillow. "Gilbert! You are kind of heavy!"

"Lies!" The albino scowled and, like the total logical kid he is, kicked Antonio in the back of the legs expecting him to go faster. Instead the two boys landed on the floor.

"Gilbert why did you do that!" Antonio whined as he struggled underneath his friend, of course being the one at the disadvantage.

Gilbert rolled off him. "I didn't do anything wrong! It's not my fault you are a handicapped horse! I want a refund!"

Antonio sat up and rubbed his head. "There are horses on my grandpa's farm you could buy!" He offered as if he completely forgot that he fell on the wood floor. He still rubbed his sore chin though.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and played along. "Mmm. Okay. How much do they cost?" He asked and rubbed his fingers together in front of the pair of green eyes.

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. But they're expensive."

Suddenly Francis poked his head out from behind the wall. "You guys forgot about me?" He pouted.

The soon to be birthday boy stood up and dusted himself off. "No! Toni here just proved to be the SUCKIEST horse ever!"

The Spaniard flopped onto his back. "I'm more like a bull. I'm cool."

Gilbert shook his head. "You're like a zebra."

"Whyyyyyy?"

Francis giggled, kind of understanding what the statement meant. "You're a fake horse!"

"I told you I'm a bull!"

"Yeah right!" Gilbert cackled and grabbed Antonio by the wrists. He glanced at Francis who followed suit and held onto his ankles. They picked him up, and began arguing over where to drag the kid. All the while, Antonio was laughing his head off.

They settled on dragging him into the living room and dropping him on one of Gilbert's old Ninja Turtle blankets. "This is the best part!" Gilbert grinned as he lowered himself to his knees and began rolling the brunette so the blanket captured him in a sort of cocoon.

"There! A taco!"

"More like a burrito!" Antonio muffled out from inside.

"Shut up Toni, no one cares!" Francis said and patted the boy's stomach.

The albino squatted down and grabbed him by the shoulders and smiled mischieviously. "Now for the best part!"

The blonde found his hips with his hands. "You said that already!" He complained.

"Shut up, no one cares Francis." Gilbert mocked and the frenchmen glared at him, but followed the self proclaimed leader and snatched up Antonio's ankles.

"Wait what's going on out there?" Antonio asked with a little bit of distress in his voice. Not being able to see made him a bit uneasy but for the most part he trusted them.

"One for the the dumby!" Gilbert chanted as they swung him back and forth.

Francis raised a brow. "It's suppose to be one for the _money_!"

Gilbert ignored him and continued. "Two for the hoe!"

 _Two for the_ _show_ Francis corrected in his head though both him and Antonio laughed at his mashup.

"Three to get sweaty!"

 _Three to get ready._

"And! Four! To—!"

The sound of a door upstairs slamming open caused Gilbert to gasp and loose grip on the blanket. That sent the top half of Antonio flying, but luckily the momentum took him flying toward the couch so his head landed on the soft surface.

Francis blinked away his shock as he gently lowered Antonio's feet to the floor, who was trying to figure out how to get out of the twisted blankets and asking a bunch of questions like, "what was that sound?"

A blonde man who strongly resembled Ludwig trudged down the stairs with a frown on his face. "Gilbert, you all need to get in bed right now because you're all too damn loud."

Gilbert groaned and slouched over. "But grandpaaaaaa! It's too early!"

"It's 12:30," the older man spoke with a deadpan expression.

"Come on we're old enough."

Grandpa Beilschmidt blinked. "Gilbert you're like six, go to bed."

Francis and Antonio, the latter barely had found an opening for his head in the blankets, chuckled. Gilbert gasped and widened his eyes. "I'm gonna be ten years old!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." He said with a straight face.

Gilbert pouted and waved his arms around in the air. "You're kidding?! You asked me the other day what I wanted for my birthday!" His grandfather was so stone faced that he didn't know what he was thinking half the time, and right now there was a spark in his eye saying _I'm the only one who knows the answer to that question._

"Just go to bed." He shook his head and trudged back up the stairs.

Gilbert just scrunched up his face and stuck out his tongue at the retreating figure. The Spaniard directed his gaze at him.

"Don't worry Gil, he got you a present." Antonio half smiled and glanced around the room suspiciously for a moment before leaning in. "I told him what to buy you!"

Gilbert's eyes gleamed. "What is it!?"

Antonio shook his head. "It will be surprise!" But Gilbert continued to stare him down knowing the Spaniard would soon cave. "Okay fine it's a—!"

"Surprise! So we can't tell you and you have to wait until your party!" Francis cut in and slapped his palm over Toni's mouth.

Gilbert whined for a few more minutes but the boys decided to heed to Grandpa Beilschmidt's wishes and get ready for bed. They spread out the blankets and tossed down their pillow on the living room floor before clicking off the lights and crawling in together.

Though they tried to get to bed, the amounts of giggles produced were at a much higher level than the amount of _Z's_ that were.

"Seriously though, if Elizabeta and Roderich get married I think they will try to be a power couple or something and conquer the universe? But they are so unawesome I think I'd be able to stop them with just my fists of steel!" Gilbert boasted.

Francis chuckled into his hand and stared at the dark ceiling. "Are you gonna invite them to your party?"

Gilbert stuck out his tongue. "I don't want to but Grandpa will make me because they live in the neighborhood. He likes Elizabeta a lot for some stupid reason."

Antonio rubbed his eyes and tried to adapt to the darkness. "If it's about neighborhood kids, does that mean you'll invite Lovi too?"

Gilbert shook his head with a _are you kidding me look_. "I don't think grandpa has even met his parents so he wouldn't force me to invite them. But I'll invite Alfred!"

"What about Matthew?" Antonio pushed further but looked a little hurt by the rude comment about Lovino.

Gilbert frowned and looked at the ceiling. "I don't know, I guess he can come. I tried a lot to include him at school when it came to gym class and recess but he is so squishy that he's always getting hurt. I don't know if I can have someone like that hanging around you know?"

Francis signed and turned his head toward Gilbert. "But what about teaching him to be awesome? Didn't you give him like three lessons?"

The albino shrugged. "Some kids just ain't cut out to be awesome." He left out the part how he thinks Matthew might actually be a wizard. Every time he made direct eye contact with him, he was mesmerized by the color and he felt weird in his stomach. The boy was trying to throw him off and slowly kill him!

"That's not nice," Antonio's voice cut in. "It's also not nice you don't like Lovi!"

Gilbert furrowed his brows. "Lovino is just annoying. But I'll invite him I guess."

Antonio sat up quickly. "Really?!"

Gilbert smirked and nodded. "Just so I can also invite his brother though." He thought of Ludwig. Apparently Feli had been pestering him about coming over to his house but Ludwig somehow was always able to steer the subject somewhere else. Now he was gonna get to watch his cute baby brother suffer through Feliciano's adorableness!

Antonio blinked for a second, deciding that Lovino was gonna be invited and that was better than nothing even if Gilbert's intentions weren't very sincere. "Yay!" He smiled and laid back down.

Francis propped his hands up behind his head. "Well, there's a whole class of people to invite. Matthias, Lukas, Toris, Feliks, Natalia, Yao, Emma, Eduardo, Vash, Tino, Berwald, Ivan—!"

"There's no way I'm inviting that guy!" Gilbert scowled and shoved Francis in the side. Ivan was a creeper and kind of a bully. And for some reason his main target, besides Toris of course, was Matthew. Gilbert noted that and occasionally stepped in to help. Sometime he stood by just to see what Matthew could do on his own but he always made sure he was okay.

So maybe he was training him still? Just.. Indirectly? He wasn't quite sure.

Francis seemed to ignore his outburst though. "What about a few younger kids, maybe like Kiku?"

Antonio nodded in agreement and the albino smiled. "Kiku for sure!"

Kiku was his brother's best friend, and despite the fact that he is a little weird and no one can ever tell what he's thinking, he was a keeper.

"Oh yeah, and don't forget the Burnt Crumpet." Francis chuckled.

Gilbert blinked his eyes a few times with an evil grin plastered on his face. "Oh yeah, he's definitely coming! So we can pull the most awesome prank on him ever!"

Antonio held his index finger to his chin. "But what if he doesn't wanna come?"

Francis and Gilbert exchanged looks and they shrugged. "We'll force him too!" The albino decided.

The blonde nodded. " _Oui,_ we'll walk to his house the day of and his mom is sure to force him."

The three of them highfived themselves for their brilliant plans and Antonio rolled over so he was facing Francis, who was laying in the middle of them. "Francis I'm kind of cold."

Francis rolled his eyes and crawled closer to him. "Come here then buddy." He wrapped his arms around the brunette who buried his face in the others boys chest.

"Come on Gilbert!" Antonio encouraged in a muffled out voice.

Gilbert reared his head away from the cuddlers. "No way! You guys are such sissies!"

Francis ruffled Toni's hair. "You're missing out. I'm a master cuddler."

Gilbert frowned with a flush. "Well that's actually true."

"Come on Gilberttttttt! " Francis pushed before poking Antonio in the ribs causing the boy to giggle and squirm.

"Ah fine!" The German relented. Francis held out an arm and Antonio scooted over to make room. Gilbert merely shook his head in a disapproving manor before flopping down horizontally across the two.

"Gilbert that hurts! " Antonio whined as Francis simultaneously complained, "Gilbert you're cutting off circulation!"

"Ah so comfy!" He grinned one last time before closing his eyes. The other two struggled for a few more moments before surrendering and then found a comfortable position with the boy on top of them. And if they were honest, he did add a little extra warmth to their bodies.

And that's how they slept that night. Well, most of it. Eventually Francis and Gilbert were woken up to the sudden movements of Antonio sleep walking into the kitchen.

* * *

 **Sorry I haven't updated since July and you get this short scrappy chapter.**

 **Please don't asked about the ages, I know they are maybe historically inaccurate (I mean I made Kiku one of the lil kids lolly so I think we're past that) also, the whole thing with Francis being a year behind because a failed attempt at home schooling is something that really happens (my sister for example) and I feel like that could be a Francis thing.**

 **Sorry I couldn't write, like, Gil's attempts at making Matthew cool, cuz I know people wanted to see it (and I wanted to write it tbh) but like it said, Gilbert kind of "gave up" and the time gaps are hard to work with. I hate myself for putting me in this position.**

 **Also, thanks Quizicalcoatl for the sleepover idea. I'm sorry the chapter was lame but I'll most likely use this similar idea again!**

 **Anyways. It sucks, but please review!**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **9/8/17**


	9. Chapter 9

**Kind of Homo: Chapter 9**

 _March, Age 10_

 _._

 _._

Being disrupted from his wonderful dream about ostriches running rapid throughout the city as it rained maple syrup was not the way Matthew wanted his day to start. Of course, living with Alfred, nothing _ever_ went the way he wanted.

"Mattie! Mattie wake up, come on!" His older twin urged as he shook his shoulder.

Matthew elected to ignore him, but when he felt his blanket being tugged away and a draft rushing up his shirt, he rolled over and lazily pushed his brother away. "Alfred, it's Saturday..." He mumbled and rubbed at his eyes.

Alfred crawled onto the bed and situated himself so he was sitting on the younger blonde's legs. "Yeah. But it's 8:00! Time to get up!"

With his eyes still closed, Matthew scowled and tried turning over. "No you don't!" Alfred grinned and dove foward, lodging his hand in between Matthew's arm and body. The blonde's eyes shot open as his brother began tickling him in most sensitive spot, causing him to let out a squeak and roll around in an awkward attempt to escape.

"Alfred! Stop!" He struggled to keep the laugh out of voice.

"Never!" The offender shouted. However, Matthew pushed his chest back, which caused him to tumble backwards and slide down the blankets onto the floor.

Matthew sat up in case his brother decided to attack again, but instead he found him laying on his back laughing.

"Uhh? Alfred are you ok?"

Alfred held up the 'ok' sign and sat up. "But you're not able to get back to sleep anymore, are ya?"

Matthew tilted his head to the side for a moment before quietly gasping. _That little..._ He narrowed his eyes and chucked his pillow at the smug child in front of him. "Well whatever. What has got you so excited?"

Alfred pulled himself back up on the bed and collapsed on his stomach. "I'm having a friend come over today."

Matthew raised an eyebrow and adjusted his blankets. "You have friends over all the time. I mean, usually they don't wanna come back after, but they come over all the tim-!"

"Be quiet!" The older brother whined and swatted his hand at the other boy. "Kiku loves coming over here! "

Matthew chuckled and kind of shrugged. Yeah, Alfred basically adopted a neighborhood kid and forced him to hangout with him all the time. Matthew kind of thought the younger boy was enjoying himself _sometimes,_ but usually he just looked uncomfortable or exasperated.

"Okay, but who's coming over then?"

Alfred grinned. "Gilbert is!"

Matthew's voice got caught in his throat. "Ehhhh... Just Gilbert is?"

Alfred nodded and sat up. "Yeah Francis and Antonio can't come for some reason, I don't know. We can ask him why when he gets here."

"Oh.. Uh what time will he be here?"

The blonde glanced around the room for a clock. "I don't know a little while. He was gonna come over early so we could hang out for the whole day!" Alfred had a bright smile on his face like he always did when he talked about his friends.

Matthew nodded slightly as his brother dragged him out of bed and into the kitchen.

It wasn't like he didn't _like_ Gilbert. It's just, he had the tendency to make Matthew very nervous. Whenever the albino came to their house he was very rowdy. And for as nuts as the three of them are together, Antonio and Francis both knew how to make him take it down a notch.

Now, if you put a Gilbert and an _Alfred_ together with no one to manage them, then they had a problem.

And beside that point, Matthew just never knew how to act around the German. Besides their first encounter they really hadn't held any _real_ conversations. Sure, Gilbert would throw a comment every once in a while but Matthew didn't really know how to respond so he usually just gave him a blank stare. What was he suppose to do, Gilbert already thought he was a loser—he told him that the first day they talked!

So yeah, when he was invited to Gilbert's birthday party he was hesitant to go. But Alfred insisted so they both ended up on the Beilschmidt's porch on January 17th. They walked inside to find a house full of unsupervised kids gathered in the living room, due to the adults flocking in the kitchen with the prized alchohol, while Natalia held a doey eyed looking Toris in a headlock! Feliks stood off to the side demanding she release his husband as Gilbert cackled out loud and shoved Roderich on the couch. Basically after that, all hell broke loose and Alfred happily jumped into the middle of the mess.

Matthew simply dropped his present on the floor and snuck out. He was still able to catch his mom at the corner of the block, that's how fast it all happened.

Matthew shook his head and sat down next to Alfred at the kitchen table. He got worried too easily, he knew. He was told he had to work on that.

"Wow, I'm surprised you got Matthew out of bed!" Their mother chuckled from the stove. She wiped her hands on her apron and placed a plate in front of the yawning boy.

Matthew glared at his brother from the corner of his eye. Alfred just grinned and scratched the back of head innocently. "Well it wasn't easy! Kid is a big fat log!"

Matthew scowled and stuffed some pancakes in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed before muttering, "Well not all of us like to wake up at the crack of dawn.."

Alfred shrugged and hummed into his glass of milk. Their mother glanced at the clock and folded up her apron. "Alright boys, I gotta go." She placed a kiss on each of their heads.

"Wait mom!" The older twin whined and snagged her hand. She paused and turned back to her son with an amused look on her face. "It's Saturday! "

She shrugged and rubbed circles on her son's rough hand. "I know hon, but they need someone to fill in for Diane."

Alfred scrunched up his face and crossed his arms before slouching down in his chair. "Well Diane should stop being a lazy fatbutt and go to work.."

Matthew raised his eyebrows and glanced up at their mom who was shaking her head in an affectionate kind of way. "Honey, she just went into labor.."

Alfred's mood immediately picked up and Matthew merely smiled at the good news.

"A baby!? Really!" The more outgoing one jumped out of his chair. "That's awesome! I've always liked Diane, can we see the baby when it's born? "

Their mom muffled a giggle and patted his head. "I'll see what I can do sweetheart, but I really have to go! Dad is sleeping, just wake him if you need something!" She blew two kisses before disappearing out the door.

Matthew picked up his fork to continue breakfast when Alfred spun around on his heels and sat back down to join him. "Matthew if you eat too much you're gonna get really fat!"

The blonde rolled his eyes at his brother's hypocritical statement. "Yeah says you Alfred. The guy who ate ALL his Halloween candy in the same night."

Alfred removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes but he had a proud smile on his face. "Yeah and I only got a _little_ sick from that! I deserve an award!"

Matthew raised his eyebrows. "You spent the whole next day puking your guts out!"

Alfred patted his stomach and propped his feet up on the table where his empty plate was. "That was one time. I always eat more than you, so I'm a little bit stronger in the whole department, thank you. But all these pancakes will definitely make you look like a balloon."

Matthew smiled sweetly and cocked his head to the side before stabbing his next piece rather harshly and shoving it in his mouth. He chewed loudly to put emphasis on how little he cared. When he swallowed, he wiped his face and gave a pointed look at his brother. "At least I play hockey to work off my—fatness...? Or whatever. You don't do anything but play video games."

Alfred gasped and nearly fell back in his chair. "What!" His voice went up an octave. "I play baseball!"

Matthew shrugged and hopped off his seat to take his dishes to the sink. He turned on the faucet and grabbed the dish soap. "Yeah, but in the summer only."

Alfred twirled his finger in the air and rolled his eyes. "But baseball is cool. Hockey? What kind of sport is that? It's always cold in there and I hate winter!"

"Christmas is in the winter."

Alfred sat up in his seat and his eyes sparkled. "Oh I love Christmas!"

Matthew chuckled under his breath at how quickly the subject could change with this kid and placed the plates back in the correct cupboard.

After listing off at least ten reasons why he loved the Holiday, Alfred shook his head and punched Matthew in the shoulder when the boy returned from across the kitchen. "Dude stop distracting me! Back to hockey—it's lammmmme! And pancakes? Why are you soooooooo canadiannnnnnnnn Mattiiieeeeeee! ?"

Matthew furrowed his eyebrows and bumped his fists together. "Eh, you know you're Canadian too, right?"

Alfred lifted his eyes in a scandalized kind of way and thrusted out a finger. "How dare you say that?!"

Matthew raised his hands in mock surrender and found his way out of the kitchen. Their father was Canadian while their mom was American. None of them were really sure why, but Alfred had this whole American pride thing going on.

So the rest of the morning continued as normal. They sat on the couch together, flipping through old Cartoon Network shows, and occasionally broke into brief arguments.

"Dude, Matthew, I'm telling you! The Powerpuff Girls is a kickbutt show! It's not just for girls!"

"I never said it was just for girls you dumby!"

Eventually their dad came out of his room with a stubbly chin and sleepy eyes. He lazily greeted them, made a cup of coffee, and with his laptop tucked under his arm, retreated back to his room to start some work.

Glancing at the clock Matthew realized Gilbert would be there soon. He made his way to the bathroom with a change of clothes. After he washed his face, he globbed some toothpaste on his toothbrush and stuck it in his mouth as he traveled down the hall back into the living room.

He stood behind the couch brushing his teeth as Alfred played with the volume on the remote. A random episode of the _Powerpuff Girls_ played and Blossom's famous _"Let's go girls,"_ line rang throughout the room.

A few moments later, a knock was heard at the door and Alfred sprang from his seat. He swung the door open and all it took was a loud greeting for Matthew's eyes to widen and send him rushing out. He finished brushing his teeth in the bathroom before peeking into the hall.

Their loud voices could be heard coming from the living room still, so the Canadian let out a sigh of relief when he safely made it back into his room. He wasn't sure what it was with his social anxiety these days, but he was extremely shy.

He plopped down on his bed and picked up his tablet laying on the nightstand. Now that the two crazies were busy, he could catch up on some well needed Netflix shows. Like Voltron, because he still wasn't able to watch the last episode of the latest season because Alfred interrupted him _everytime—_

Speak of the devil, the noises only seemed to get louder as the Netflix app began loading, and only then did Matthew realize _they share a room!_ Of course Alfred would bring him in there! As the doorknob turned, Matthew slunk down in his bed. He tried to seem as casual as possible. It didn't work.

"Mattie why do you look like the Very Hungry Caterpillar with a tummy ache?" Alfred cocked his head to the side as he strolled in with Gilbert behind him.

Avoiding the albino's eyes, Matthew huffed and frowned. "I don't."

Alfred laughed out loud and Gilbert grinned as he walked toward Matthew's bed. He raised a hand for a highfive. "What's going on Moon Pie?!"

Matthew raised his eyebrows and pink dusted his cheeks at the confusing pet name, but he hesitantly tapped his palm against Gilbert's which earned a finger gun from said boy.

"So are you gonna be playing with us today?"

Matthew paused at the question. It was an odd question. "Uhh I don't really know..."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "It's not awesome to have Gilbert at your house and not hang out with him, so I guess it depends on if you wanna be a dork forever."

Matthew winced at how casually those words rolled off his tongue, and for a moment he thought Gilbert actually noticed. He looked like he was about to say something when Alfred cut in from where he was rummaging through his video games—

"Gilbert you're suppose to be playing video games with me!"

Without another glance at him, Gilbert walked from Matthew and sat down next to the American. Matthew watched from behind them as they played their racing game and sighed. Gilbert made him uncomfortable beyond belief and it was the weirdest thing having him in his own room, but it was the first mutual exchange of words since his first week of school! All Gilbert ever usually did was yell at him across the gym or the playground and he usually never even understood a word he saying.

Pausing their intense conversation on leprechauns and Gilbert's plan on his eventual world domination, Alfred stuck out his tongue and asked, "wait, why couldn't Francis and Antonio come today anyways?"

Without taking his attention off the game, Gilbert furrowed his brows and stuck out his bottom lip before responding with, "Franny had some family thing and Toni's mom found his girly princess notebook she told him to get rid of. She doesn't like that notebook for some reason so he got in trouble." Gilbert let out a cackle. "Stupid Toni and his girl toys."

Alfred nodded in agreement. "I mean why have princesses when you can have Captain America!?"

"What princess was it? " Matthew, for whatever reason, found himself cutting in.

Both boys glanced at him for a quick second with confused looks.

"What?" Mathew fidgeted nervously. "I was just wondering...?"

Gilbert seemed to take the question to thought after his moment of bewilderment. "Mmmmm I don't know. One with red hair— the mermaid one!"

"Oh that's Ariel, she used to be my favorite Disney princess but Rapunzel is now. " Alfred commented as his character crossed the finish line.

Gilbert exhaled a muffled laugh and Matthew raised a brow. "I knew you were paying dumb when you agreed that 'girly princess things are dumb.' You love Disney movies."

Alfred shrugged.

So the time went by and the boys continued to play video games. They swapped the disc out several times but always kept a conversation up while Matthew enjoyed himself behind them. He played a game on his tablet and occasionally commented on something said, but he mostly just listened. They did get loud, he would admit, but never to the point where their were insanely obnoxious.

"I have to go to the bathroom real quick." Alfred hopped up after a pause in the conversation. "I'll bring some snacks back when I'm done!"

Matthew glanced at his brother with his eyebrows furrowed. "After? You better make sure you actually wash your hands then." He rolled his eyes and set his attention back on his tablet.

Alfred mocked Matthew's chide and slid outta the room. It hadn't been more than three seconds since he left, and Gilbert was already flinging himself onto the spot next to the younger blonde.

"Hey you fluffy cotton candy ball! What are you doing?!"

Matthew's heart jolted in surprise as the boy settled next to him. He shifted uncomfortably and scooted over a bit, already feeling crowded. "Er.. Um. I'm just sitting here."

Gilbert flipped onto his back and blew a raspberry at the ceiling. "LAME! What are you doing on here?" He pushed on and snatched the tablet out of Matthew's hands. "Ooooo what is on your Netflix list?!"

He scrolled through, pausing to examine some cartoons or Lego shows. "Ha! You watch Friends?! LAME!"

Matthew raised his eyebrows and pushed up his glasses. "I mean, actually Alfred watches that. But he's not really allowed to."

Gilbert cocked his head to the side. "Hm? Why?"

Matthew shrugged. "Well, its kina adult-ish."

Gilbert scoffed. "Ohhh nice!" He tapped the screen. "There we go! It's The Flash!"

The blonde rubbed the back of his head. "Um.. Alfred again."

The albino furrowed his brows and waved the tablet around. "So what do you watch!?"

Matthew frowned and tapped his fingers together. "Um. Well, both me and Alfred watch a lot of the Cartoon Network shows... But my favorite is probably Voltron."

With half lidded eyes, Gilbert questioned, "Voltron?"

"Yeah," he leaned forward and scrolled across until a young animated man with a red jacket and sad features popped up. "Here watch this." Matthew tapped the screen and allowed the trailer to play. After a moment of teenage banter and a lot of lions flying through galaxies, Gilbert blinked.

"Whoa, that show looks awesome!"

Matthew half smiled and looked away.

While the trailer replayed, Gilbert chuckled and pointed at the significantly smaller character whose signature color was green. "Haha look at that dude! He kind of looks like you "

Matthew blinked and ignored the fact that it was probably suppose to be an insult. "Um, spoiler, that's actually a girl."

Gilbert's face went paler than it already was and his expression went blank. After a few seconds he tossed the device back on Matthew's lap and let out a loud whine. "Why do I have so much trouble with figuring that stuff out!?"

Matthew stared at him for a moment, not quite sure how to respond. He was about to say something about how it's a common mistake and as long as you correct yourself and respect the person's preference, its not a big deal— but Gilbert beat him to it.

"I guess you just gotta be dorky like you to figure it out, am I right?"

Matthew broke his gaze at him and stared down at his hands.

"Okay perfect. So tell the Awesome Me why calling you a dork is such a trigger word."

His eyes immediately widened and they met with maroon. Gilbert was sitting up now with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. He looked scarier than just a fourth grader. "I... What—"

"Come on celery stick," Gilbert cracked a side smile but kept his arms crossed. "I've called enough people dorks to know how they should act. They should yell or something. You just kind of... I'm not really sure what you do cause I usually stop paying attention but today I finally noticed how you stop talking. " he shrugged. "I'm just awesome like that."

Matthew stared at him. Okay, so his explanation was a bit off, but he got the gist. Gilbert actually noticed his discomfort at the name. He never gave the German enough credit for his (somewhat) perceptiveness.

He bumped his fists together in an attempt to make himself feel less awkward. "Erm.. Ok. Well, at my old school, lots of the kids were kinda mean to me. I mean, lots of of them didn't like Al either but he could stand his ground. Me, well, they really tormented me and called me names. _Dork_ isn't the worst one but I just really associate it badly I guess."

He waited for Gilbert to laugh at him but it didn't come.

"Bullies? Bleh bullies are just lame-os."

Matthew glanced at the door and began to wonder what was taking Alfred so long. He also was trying to work up the courage to mention how Gilbert was a little hypocritical considering he practically bullies Lovino Vargas and, more commonly, Arthur Kirkland. But of course he couldn't say that! He'd probably get punched in the face. He took a deep breath. "Um thanks."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah we already knew I was awesome, but what about you? What should I call you now?""

"Hm?"

"A nickname! I call you too many, I think we need to get one and stick with it!"

"Um, how about my real name? Matthew?"

Gilbert flipped onto his side and stuck out his tongue. "Boring! We need something cool! Only cool people get nicknames from THE AWESOME ME!"

Matthew leaned away and winced at his exclamation, but his cheeks dusted pink. "But Antonio and Francis have a bunch of nicknames instead of one?"

The albino waved a hand. "Psshh who said they were awesome enough?"

Matthew chewed on his lip and looked away embarrassed. Gilbert must have picked up on it because he frantically shook his hands in front of him. "I'm not calling you awesome! Your only kinda cool and only kind of! Besides, now I'm not gonna even let you pick the nickname because it will end up stupid so the awesome me will decide!"

The maroon eyed boy leaned forward and began examining the other's face. Matthew was a little worried he'd get yelled at again so he just sat still and let it happen. After a few moments, Gilbert snapped his fingers. "I got it! I'm AWESOME!" He flicked a stray blond piece of hair out of his eyes and grinned. "You'll be known as Birdie from now on! "

Matthew jerked his head back. He had been expecting something like ' _Who?'_ People literally called him that at his old school , and it was always pronounced with the question mark and everything. "B-birdie..? I— huh?"

Gilbert cackled and hopped off the bed, his mismatched red and blue train socks contrasting with the stained white carpet. "I have my birdie Gilbird back at home and you have the same color hair as him. I say it's a pretty awesome match. And that means it's legit!"

Matthew spread his hands out on the bunched up blankets beneath him. "Gilbird... I didn't know about him."

"No?" he frowned. "I only talk about him all the time! I guess I'll just have to talk about him EVEN LOUDER NOW!"

Matthew chuckled under his breath, and realized it was one of the first times he thinks the albino had actually gotten that reaction out of him.

Gilbert looked as if he were going to scream about something else, but the sound of the door opening and hitting the wall alarmed them. "Sorry it took so long guys! I was in the bathroom and washing my hands but I realized mom got some new soap so I was reading the label for five minutes until I realized it was in like, Chinese or something. Then I went in the kitchen and got some bowls of munchies and now I'm back."

Matthew blinked at his brother's empty hands. "Oh ok. You put the food together but Cosmo and Wanda are gonna deliver it?"

Alfred looked confused for a mere second before racing back to the kitchen. Gilbert broke out into hard laughter, and Matthew felt a flicker of pride at causing it.

As the day continued, Alfred and Gilbert played video games for a few more hours with Matthew quietly observing from behind. He even got to play two rounds, one in which he beat Alfred's butt and in another where he came very close but ultimately lost to "The Oh So Mighty and Awesome Gilbert!" Or, that's at least what he yelled in Matthews face afterwards.

When the two energetic boys went outside to play, Matthew decided to stay in despite the temperatures that were starting to rise as they slowly eased out of winter. He watched from the window for a moment and only stepped away when Alfred tried waving him down. After about another two hours of peace, they stormed back in and dragged him out.

They ended up going on a walk, that included an interesting encounter with Ivan and a small group of kids behind him. He recognized a few from his class, three boys and one girl. Toris, Natalia, and the glasses one whose name slipped his mind. But one looked a little younger than the rest, and Matthew didn't recognize him.

Gilbert and Alfred then got in a fight with Ivan, who seemed to be enjoying it as he didn't get offended by a word said but Gilbert and Alfred got triggered by every little thing. Eventually the fight ended when the little boy broke down crying and Ivan turned around to pat his head. Matthew took it as his chance to drag his team away.

They got back to their house where his mom had brought home a pizza. They enjoyed it together with loud insults across the table—well Matthew would insult his brother. But not Gilbert. He felt bad but he was still a little scared of him.

At the end of night, when Grandpa Beilschmidt came to pick Gilbert up, Alfred waved at him as he crossed the front yard. Matthew got a rough shove towards the door by his mother and a harsh, " _be nice"_ so he joined his brother there.

Before Gilbert hopped into the passenger seat of the truck he turned around and waved a loud "BYEEEEEE!" at Alfred. He then shifted his gaze at Matthew. And because he just got his eye checked and the porch light just got a new bulb, he knew he wasn't going crazy when he caught the playful wink directed at him.

* * *

 **Guess who's back?**

 **SOrry! Ever since school started, things have been rough! I hate 10th grade and everyone at my school! So updates will be a lot slower now sorry! I've actually been trying to type this chapter for months!**

 **Also, sorry for lack of Toni and Franny! Like I said before, this story is taking a huge turn and it's not just about friendship it's also a lot about romance— let's just say this story is about relationships? Between everyone. And for some reason I've been laying the Prucan on thick, even more so than the other pairings i feel like? Idk why.**

 **Okay, so that's that. I really wanna work on my new Hetalia/OHSHC chapter, but that takes forever but I don't wanna delay this story anymore! Ugh I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place!**

 **Anyways! Favorite and review and that jazz!**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **12/9/17**


	10. Chapter 10

**Kind of Homo: Chapter 10**

 _July, Age 10_

 _._

"Okay, so why is it that you have to wear so much sunscreen, but Alfred gets off all willy-nilly?" Francis asked as he glanced over his shoulder, before smearing a blob on Gilbert's back. Antonio sat on the tile next to them, chatting away with Lovino who was snacking on a tomato.

From the lawn chair he was sitting on, Matthew shrugged as he finished applying lotion to his pale, but already pinkening, arms.

Alfred swung an arm around his brother's neck and chuckled. "I guess I'm just lucky! I don't sunburn like Mattie here does!"

Antonio cut off midconversation with Lovino and turned to the boys. "Oh yeah, Gilbert gets crazy bad sunburns! I'm surprised your even taking your shirt off _amigo!"_

The albino quirked an eyebrow and flexed his barely-there-muscles. "I gotta show off my guns. A little sun is no match for my awesomeness!"

Matthew tugged at the hem of his tank top. "Yeah, I'm not sure that's a good idea for me. The last time I got sunburned, I didn't want to move for a week!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and patted the boy's head. "Oh Birdie, if there is anything I've learned from you in the last few months, is that you are wayyyy over dramatic!"

Matthew, who had gotten much more comfortable (not completely yet) with the trio since the day he spent with Gilbert back in March, raised his eyebrows. "I am?" He was genuinely perplexed to hear this, for he was speaking to one of the biggest drama queens he knew.

"Oh, yeah definitly!"

Lovino and Francis shared glanced and rolled their eyes. Antonio chuckled into the back of his hand.

Alfred nodded and stretched his arms above his head. "I know! Once we went sledding, but he was taking soooo long, so I shoved him down the hill before he was ready and he wouldn't talk to me for three days because it was _my_ fault he broke his arm!"

The five boys boys listening all glanced at each akwardly, even Gilbert, who sent the younger twin a sympathetic head shake.

"Okay, well you're a jerk, and who wants to go swimming?" Francis broke the brief silence.

Toni's hand was first to go in the air, quickly followed by Gilbert bouncing on his heels. Lovino raised a brow before pushing his sunglasses over his nose and lying down on his towel. "No thanks, losers."

Matthew's eyes scanned the perimeter where most of the other kids in their class were out and about. "Um, I'm not sure I'm ready to swim yet either."

The French boy clicked his tongue and held out his hand toward the pool. "Oh come on _Mathieu!"_

"Yeah," Antonio commented as he stood and pulled up his red swim trunks. "It's just like that hockey thing you do!... Except the water isn't frozen!"

Gilbert and Francis both gave Antonio a deserved flick on the head as Matthew shrugged slightly. "It's not that I can't swim, I just don't want to yet." He glanced down at Lovino, who seemed to be enjoying his time in the sun. "I guess I'll just hang out with Lovino for a while."

Lovino made no indication that he heard his name mentioned, but Matthew sat down next to him anyway.

"Oh come on Matt! It's the fourth of July! The celebration of the greatest country ever!" Alfred grinned as he wrapped his towel around his neck in an attempted makeshift cape.

Matthew wrinkled his nose, disagreeing somewhat with that logic. "I'll stay here I think." Noticing the looks on his friend's faces, his cheeks pinkend and in his typical anxiousness he softly added, "for now at least."

The four others pouted for mere seconds, before Gilbert shrugged and grinned. "Well, I had an idea, but I guess we'll have to go with the next best thing!"

Antonio scratched his head. "What's the next best thing?"

Gilbert's grin grew wider, and soon they all picked up on where his gaze was directed. Antonio, Francis, and Alfred smiled in approval, but Matthew's eyes widened. "G-Gilbert I don't think that's a very good-!"

But the snowflake haired boy barely heard, for he was already scooping up the targeted Italian the best he could and trudging toward the pool.

"WHat are you DOING?!" Lovino's voiced cracked in what Gilbert assumed was fear, but he chose to ignore it at the moment because he had to focus all his energy on carrying him. They were roughly the same size but Lovino was much heavier than he looked.

"We're just going for a swim!" He cackled as he was now holding a squirming and screeching Lovino bridal style over the water.

"No! No stop it! I don't wan- I CAN'T go in the water! You disgusting, filthy moron! Let me go!" he continued screaming and sticking his hand in Gilbert's face in an attempt to make him listen. And frankly, it was kind of annoying!

A few chuckles were heard from behind, and Lovino distressingly poked his head over the albino's shoulder. With his sunglasses lost during the struggle, Lovino's eyes narrowed in on one of the accompanying parties. "Antonio, I swear on all things holy, I will never ever be your friend if you don't make him stop!"

Antonio's eyes widened and his mouth fell into a straight line. "Never be friends... Ever?"

"Ever! " Lovino tried to repeat in an intimidating way, but in reality he looked like a frightened toddler as he wrapped his arms tighter around Gilbert's neck and glanced nervously at the water.

"I thought we were having fun because this is the only way we would get you to play with us, but Gilbert, you should probably stop now!" Antonio said as walked closer to the edge of the pool where they were. Francis and Alfred followed him.

"Oh come on! He's just being a baby whose scared of the water!" Gilbert taunted, but in reality his arms were getting very tired. He bounced Lovino in his arms once and earned a hilarious shriek out of him.

As he felt Gilbert's grip loosening around him, his screwed his eyes shut and let out a pathetic, "Fine I can't swim!"

"Huh?" Francis inquired. "But your like ten, right? Like the rest of us?"

"Not everyone can swim you jerk!" The Italian defended himself as his cheeks puffed out.

Antonio smiled and leaned around Gilbert's shoulder so he could smile at the terrorized boy. "That's okay Lovi! Not everyone can, you're right!"

Gilbert glanced around for a moment before smirking. Then he chucked his younger classmate into the pool.

Alfred's and Matthew's jaws dropped. Antonio let out a high pitched squeak. Francis gripped his hair, "WHAT THE HECK GILB-!"

Lovino was under water for no more than three seconds before Gilbert dove in and fished him out. At first Lovino was so shook that he latched onto the albino like a koala, coughing up water and being grateful he was still alive. But after a moment of realization, he was distangling himself and wishing he were dead.

"Come on little boy, I saved you!" Gilbert reasoned as he tried to keep the stubborn kid from paddling off by himself into the middle of the pool where he almost drowned.

Lovino spit out some water and gasped for air. "But y-you almost killed me too!" He broke away, but his feet couldn't touch the bottom, which left him no choice but to rely on Gilbert, who luckily was the tiniest bit taller then Lovino. And with the smallest height advantage in the world, he was able to stand on his tippy toes, and as long as he kept his chin up, could breath perfectly fine too.

"Fine, take me back to the edge! Or I'll drown you!"

"Seems a bit counter productive," they heard Francis chuckle before diving into the pool himself and popping his head up from underwater right next to them.

Alfred quickly followed and jumped in too. Antonio squatted down on the edge side. "Lovi! Are you okay?"

Lovino scolwed. "Do I look okay to you, stupid!?"

"I'm not sure, but you're in the water. And holding onto Gilbert, who is almost known for being fire proof— he starts a lot of fires, did you know that?"

"Antonio."

"Anyways, that means he's one of the safest guys to be around in case of a fire, I'm not really sure if he's better than the fire department but—"

"Antonio."

"I mean, I would call him! But usually I'm with him when it happens so I actually wouldn't have to call him would I? Would save a lot of time! Plus, I don't even have a phone yet so that makes it—!

"ANTONIO WE ARE IN A POOL BEING FIRE PROOF DOESN'T HELP YOU STUPID IDIOT!"

Antonio blinked as Lovino scowled at him from across the way. During the whole event, Gilbert had waded into the shallower part of the pool, but the Italian still clung to him like his life depended on it, possibly not even noticing the change of location

The Spaniard then cocked his head to the side and grinned. He held out a thumbs up and winked, "See! You're even calling me names! I think you're going to be okay Lovi!"

Lovino's brows furrowed further and he tightened his grip on Gilbert's shoulder.

"Geez noodle kid! Chill out, and get a nail file!" The German complained, bouncing the slightly smaller boy like a father would to amuse his child.

"Stop it—! "

The argument was cut short when a shadow overhead caught them off gaurd. They both looked up in time to see Antonio jumping into the pool, right above where they were standing, screaming "CANNONBALL!"

All three boys were sent underwater, only to resurface seconds later with a lot of coughing, spitting, and yelling.

"Toni you _mother trucker!"_ Gilbert gurggled as he angrily blinked his eyes, trying to regain his vision from the chlorine that was burning through his head.

"Are you INSANE!?" Lovino growled and latched onto the poolside, where he, thankfully, drifted to naturally in the whole echange. He pulled himself onto the ledge before spitefully kicking water at the Spaniard.

"Hehe, sorry _amigos,"_ he innocently chuckled, his eyes covered by his dripping hair.

"Lovinoooo! Dont let Toni's stupidity stop you from playing with us!" Francis cried dramatically from the deeper end, where he easily floated on his back.

"Oooooo Lovi was in the water?!"

All at once, each member of the trio broke into a grin and poked their heads up. "Feli!"

Beaming, Feliciano strolled up with an exasperated Ludwig and an indifferent Kiku. They all held small plates of food, mainly full of fruit and a few chips.

"How did you guys get Lovi to swim!? He never swims with me!"

"Oh I'll tell you how, " Lovino hissed as he tried to get the water out of his right ear. "These crazies attacked me and almost drowned me!"

Francis waved a hand and paddled toward Feli. "Please, he almost only a little drowned."

Lovino shot him a look. "How do you _only_ _a little drown_ genius?"

The blonde scrutinized him with half lidded eyes before smiling slightly. "I am a genius, _merci,_ and—!"

"Forget that!" Gilbert butted in and hit the water with his fist. "Lovino was just being a scaredy cat afraid of water!"

Lovino raised a brow and pointed at him with his toes. "I'm not scared, okay, I just can't swim!"

"Lovi you did look a tad bit scared, " Antonio shrugged a bit as he spun circles on the surface of the water with his index finger.

"Was not!"

"So, hydrophobia? " Ludwig offhandedly commented, drawing the attention of the others.

"Huh?" Antonio squinted up at him.

"Hydrophobia. He's afraid of water. Prefix hydro means water and phobia—! "

"Ludwig, dude!" Alfred held up the timeout sign. "English please!"

The albino nodded in agreement and threw up his arms, sending water at anyone walking by. "Or German at least! What is all that mumbo jumbo?!"

Ludwig narrowed his eyes and looked as if he were ready to start yelling something, but Alfred beat him to it. "Hey Kiku, whaddaya got there on that plate!" His eyes zoomed in on the target, yet he could not see very well, due to his lack of glasses.

Kiku glanced down. "I have some grapes and—!"

"GREAT!" Alfred slammed his palms on the water. "Throw me some!" He then turned up his chin and dropped his jaw, waiting for the younger boy to toss them in.

Kiku blinked and glanced at Ludwig who raised an eyebrow before plucking a raspberry into his mouth. Kiku turned back to the American. "Alfred, I don't think it's a good idea to throw fruit into the pool."

The blonde stuck out his bottom lip and flopped into his back, barely managing to keep afloat. "Why not!? It's my house!"

Kiku noticed Matthew sitting in the back, holding a thumbs up. He let out an amused sigh and followed Ludwig as he blatantly ignored Gilbert demanding him throw fruit at him too. Feliciano noticed his friends leaving, so he told his brother to have a nice swim and bounced away.

Lovino made a face and muttered something like, "Yeah right" before shaking off his dripping legs and standing up. Before he could get far though, he felt a somewhat pruney hand wrap around his ankle that stopped him in his tracks. He looked down to see a puppy eyed Antonio.

"Ugh what do you want?" He tried shaking him off in a lame attempt.

"Please let us teach you to swim! It would be fun!"

"Are you kidding me?! It will not be fun!"

"Awww I think it's kind of a _bon_ idea!" Francis nodded,drifting closer to the pair. "It's good for you to know how to swim, and you might actually have fun!"

Lovino scowled. "Have fun with you guys!?"

Francis raised a brow in amusement. ''I mean, I'm only speaking for myself, but I'm a pretty great teacher."

Antonio beamed. "Me too!"

Gilbert cleared his throat behind them. "I don't know what these losers are talking about, since I'm clearly the awesomest one here therefore the best teacher! But I guess we can give you ONE lesson."

"YEAH SOUNDS KIND OF FUN!" Alfred gurgled as he attempted doing laps around the pool.

"Okay, step one:get in the pool." Francis ordered.

The Italian looked taken back and kicked Antonio off him. "What! No!"

The Frenchman rolled back his eyes and held out his arms. "Sorry, yes I promise I'll catch you."

Lovino held a fist to his chest and glared darkly at the group of boys. He noted Gilbert's extremely pinkening shoulders. "No! I didn't even agree to the stupid thing so no!" He spun on his heel, nearly slipping on the water when Antonio called out—

"Please play with us! I'll make it up to you! By.. Um.. "

"You can make Toni do whatever you want him to do!" Francis filled in.

Gilbert clapped his hands. "Yeah! One day, you don't feel like taking out the trash? BAM! Toni does it! Don't wanna do your homework? BOOM! Toni's on it! Getting tired of your own voice? BAM! Toni's on his way to punch ya in the mouth!"

"Yeah!" Antonio grinned before his green eyes lit up in what Lovino thought was realization. "I mean no! Not hit you! But anything else!"

Lovino crossed his arms at the compensation. "Anything?"

Francis draped an arm around a nodding Toni. "Yeah, one get out of jail free card. You can use it any day you want with no expiration!"

Lovino clicked his tongue. "Fine." He relented and dropped his bottom to the ledge again. They were on the shallow side, yet he slowly lowered himself in and approached the others even slower.

"Good, we finally accomplished step one!" Francis clapped and chuckled when Gilbert and Antonio joined in.

"Haha whatever. What comes next, Mr. Know-It-All?"

Francis looked as if he were about to continue, but Gilbert held up a hand to silence him. "I got this."

Francis crossed his arms and frowned but didn't stop him. He watched as Gilbert somehow convinced Lovino to allow him to place his hands on his stomach and hold him up much like a waiter would do with a plate. And due to the weird like gravity in the water, he wasn't heavy at all!

"Okay, Lovino. I'll hold you up and walk you around, and all you have to do right now is keep your head out of the water and move your arms like you're swimming by yourself."

Despite the cool water, Lovino's face was a light pink. "I cannot believe I'm doing this, I feel like a two year old," he muttered but did as he was instructed.

Moments passed and things seemed to be going pretty smoothly. They stayed mostly on the shallow end since it was easier for Gilbert to hold him up when his feet were flat on the ground. The self employed teacher was pretty satisfied with himself, and he was pretty sure Lovino was getting used to the rhythmic motions. He glanced up and noticed Matthew watching from the lawn chair, his legs criss crossed and a hand raised to shield his eyes from the sun. Matthew caught him looking and gave a hesitant wave before turning away. Gilbert grinned and looked to his two friends.

Antonio was watching intently and Francis was nodding along as he observed the technique. "I gotta say, Gilbert, I'm pretty impre—!"

Gilbert's mischievous wink caused the blonde to stop mid-sentence and raise a confused brow. He watched carefully as the albino removed his hands and gave the oblivious boy a light shove in the direction of the deep end.

Francis rushed toward and shoved Gilbert to the side. "What part of _he can't swim_ DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!"

Gilbert ignored him as he watched Lovino quickly begin sinking, but Antonio was on the rescue so quick he didn't even see what the big fuss was all about.

Lovino emerged from underwater and didn't even react to the fact he was being held flush against Antonio. He was more interested in screaming his head off at the moronic idiot who tossed him in the water. "WHAT ARE YOU?! A COMPLETE IDIOT?!"

Gilbert shrugged and leaned up on the pooliside. "Well, it's like when you're teaching someone to ride a bike. You push them around and then let them go without them knowing!"

"Sure!" Francis agreed with a mock smile, before splashing Gilbert in the face. "Except you won't drown if you fall off a bike!"

"Well I don't see you with a better idea, _Francis!_ "

"Actually I did, but you butted in like the big mouth spaz you are!"

Gilbert narrowed his brows. "You know what—!" He started, before just lunging at the other boy. It quickly turned into a full out tustle, with both of them taking turns gaining the advantage and shoving each other underwater. There was kicking, and namecalling, and spitting, and near death.

Antonio made a face. "Okay guys you can stop now!" They just continued on. "Guys?!"

Lovino, still ignoring that he and the Spaniard were holding onto each other like two Velcro monkeys, rolled his eyes. "No, just let them. At least if one of them die, we won't have to deal with them both any more."

Antonio raised his eyebrows. "Umm, Lovi I think I better do something." He dropped Lovino off at the side and gave him a pat on the head before jumping in the middle of the mess. It didn't turn out so well, and he ended up just being used as a human shield to Francis' advantage.

Lovino clicked his tongue and sighed. He let it play out for a few more minutes because he gained a sort of sick satisfaction by seeing the three of them beat the living crap out of each other. Then, being the generous boy he was, he picked up two pool toys and chuckled them one at a time. He had been aiming for Francis and Gilbert, but they both just ended up hitting the latter. Gilbert grabbed the back of his head where he was hit and spun around, shoving both Francis and his human shield away as he did. "What was that?!"

Lovino ignored the stupid question and allowed his eyes to scan the backyard where kids were playing in the sprinklers and running around with water guns. The parents were all gathered by the grill near the house, seemingly tuning everyone else out. "Okay, just— can any of you morons actually swim?" They all nodded. Lovino narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Fine. Prove it "

The other three, as if completely forgetting they were just beating the daylights outta each other, lined up on one side before showcasing their swimming style for the younger boy. Lovino watched in an unimpressed manor as Francis and Antonio lamely doggy paddled and Gilbert just threw his limbs around and still managed to stay afloat somehow.

"Okay stop!" Lovino groaned, and tossed his arms up when they all gave him their attention. "You guys call that swimming!?"

"Well yeah," Antonio nodded.

"If you're not dead at the bottom, I'm pretty sure it's swimming you delusional chicken nugget. " Gilbert assured him and Francis actually agreed.

Lovino shook his head. "No, that's a load of crap. That's not swimming, it's flapping your arms around like a crippled duck trying to swim."

Francis raised his arms him in an annoyed manor. "It so counts— hey Matthew! Come here for a second!"

Mathew's eyebrows raised up and he adjusted his glasses on his nose before approaching. His shoulders and cheeks had a pink hue to them already. "What is it guys..?"

Francis pointed accusingly at Lovino. "He says that doggy paddling doesn't count as swimming!"

Antonio placed his hands on his hips and held up his chin. "Yeah, I think it counts!"

Gilbert punched the water. "Tell him that he's wrong and we're right, Birdie!"

Matthew took a step back and felt the stress rising. Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis were staring at him expectantly and Lovino was just narrowing his eyes. Luckily, he was spared the responsibility because his mother calling his name from the house caught his attention.

"Matthew? Have you seen your brother anywhere ? Because I need— nevermind that. Can you just come here instead please?"

Matthew glanced around before remembering that Alfred _was,_ in fact, in the pool with the others still. Matthew held up his finger in a silent gesture asking her to wait, and strolled around the pool. He leaned over and grabbed hold of the snorkel sticking out of the water, fishing out Alfred as well.

"Mattie! What are ya doing! I just found my Army Guy that I lost last month!" He groaned, pulling off the goggles that he must have put on while no one was paying attention.

"Has Alfred ever gone that much time without people paying attention to him?.." Lovino whispered to no one in particular.

Matthew ignored that. "Mom needs you." He said and pointed at the house where she was waiting with another one of their classmates.

He groaned and pulled himself out of the pool before sprinting over. There she stood with Arthur, and Alfred raised a brow in a little bit of confusion and ammusment.

The others watched as Matthew and Alfred's mother pushed the boys toward the door before rejoining the other adults. Alfred, with his hands on Arthur's shoulders, stopped them both at the threshold of the door and called across the yard. "Hey Gilbert! I'm taking Artie to the bathroom, come on guys!"

Gilbert and the rest of his gang immediately jumped out of the pool, Antonio snagging Lovino's arm on the way. Gilbert glanced over his shoulder and waved Matthew along. "Come on Birdie!"

Matthew shrugged. "I don't have to go to the bathroom though."

Gilbert snorted. "None of us do! Come on! It's your house what are you worried about!" He then ran off without waiting to see if he'd follow. Luckily, Matthew did end up following, and he walked in the house just in time to hear Arthur shout "Don't wait right outside!" Before slamming the door.

"You know what would be funny?" Francis snickered as Matthew approached the group.

"Oh I can only imagine, " Lovino sarcastically said as he glanced around the room, never having been in Alfred's home before.

"No," Francis shook his head. "If we pulled a prank on the Burnt Crumpet in ther—!"

"I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!" could be heard from the other side of the door.

The boys broke out into laughter, beside from Matthew, who was too busy worrying over the amount of water being dripped onto the floor. He ran off to fetch a towel, and when he came back the sink was running in the bathroom. He wasn't sure why the boys were getting a kick out of waiting for Arthur to finish peeing, but he just decided to leave it at that they were weirdos.

When the Brit exited the room, he immediately stepped in a puddle that was right outside the door. He stumbled foward, straight into Matthew who fell back and dropped the towels everywhere. Both boys sat on the floor covered in towels, annoyed, and a little embarrassed as their friends laughed at them.

"Did you enjoy your pee?" Alfred asked as he squatted down in front of Arthur.

Arthur scowled and turned to Matthew. "Sorry Matthew." He picked up the towels and mopped up the floor before looking back at Alfred. "And no, not really. All your mom did was ask you to show me where the bathroom was, not bring a whole party with you!"

Alfred shrugged. "I thought it would be more fun this way."

Arthur adjusted his t-shirt and stood up. "Oh yeah. Because I can't use the restroom without your guys' support." he turned to head back outside but both Alfred and Francis jumped at him.

"Wait Arthur! This is the first time you've been in my house! Come look at my bedroom!"

"No thanks!"

"Come on buddy!" Francis smiled sweetly, and Arthur couldn't help but destest how fake the smile was. "Let's gooooo!" And before Arthur could even fight back, both blondes were dragging him down the hall with Gilbert and Matthew following behind and Antonio dragging a whining Lovino along.

Once entering the room, Alfred released him and did a somersault onto his bed. He pointed to a poster on his wall with his foot. "That's my Captain America poster, and that's my George Washington poster—"

"And you just got water all over your bed, genius." Arthur snapped.

Alfred glanced down and threw his bed back. "Ughhh! Whatever it will dry."

Antonio turned to Lovi next to him. "See? Arthur is usually mean, but he just complimented Alfred even though he did something dumb! Maybe he's finally going to change for the better!"

Lovino stared blankly at him. It was unbelievable how his smile was actually genuine; his eyes squinted in the way they always did when he made that expression. His skin was slightly flushed due to the heat, but his darker skin tone made it almost barely noticable. His wet hair was dripping down his forehead and the green of his eyes looked a tad bit darker than usual in the dim lighting, yet they still sparkled. Everything about him, it just, couldn't keep Lovino from asking the question: "Have you always been this stupid?"

Antonio's smile dropped for a split second but it quickly came back when he cocked it to the side. "Oh Lovi, you'd have to ask Gilbert or Francis that because I don't known if I remember!"

Lovino nodded. "Right okay. Hey Frenchie, has Antonio always been this stupid?"

Francis pretended to think. "Yup, definitely "

"For sure," Gilbert also added in.

"He might have actually gotten stupider over the years," Arthur threw in as he walked toward the door.

Lovino nodded. "You're right Antonio! I think he is becoming nicer."

Antonio half smiled. Lovino wasn't quite sure why he was smiling but he didn't like it. "Okay morons, time to head back outside!" He announced as he followed Arthur out and pushed Matthew along side them.

The rest of the Fourth of July turned out alright. They all ran around on the slipping slide and played on the tire swing. They even had an intense water balloon fight with a group of other kids where Yao, a short Chinese boy, claimed victorious somehow. (He didn't have a lot of brawns, but he had a lot of brains and enough sass to make up for it).

They played Marco Polo in the pool with the rest of the class, and at one point Matthias got so frustrated with losing _so much_ that he grabbed the hose and began spraying everyone down with the cold water. (Lukas was actually the mastermind behind all of it, telling him to take out the kids he didn't like. Gilbert was the first to go.)

Once all the food was actually done, the kids grabbed their flimsy red, white, and blue paper plates, dropped some grub on it and ran off to find some comfy places to eat in the grass. A game of Never-Have-I-Ever broke out, resulting in Gilbert and Elizabeta getting in fight over whether Gilbert had actually ever scored higher than an eighty-three percent on an assignment before. (Ludwig could actually vouch for his brother knowing fully well Gilbert had scored at least a ninety-three before on a spelling test, but decided to keep that information for himself. He liked seeing his brother getting his butt handed to him by Elizabeta.)

As dusk rolled around, everyone was getting anxious for the fireworks. Unfortunately, the father of the household forgot to pick them up like his wife _specifically asked him to,_ so they all had to settle for watching the ones going off across the trees, which luckily weren't too far away. (Alfred blamed his father's Canadian heritage for the screw up.)

They all settled down, and changed into their clothes, knowing they would be starting any minute. Antonio laid out his Ninjago blanket for him and his friends to share. Francis settle down in the middle and the other two sat down on either side. Antonio patted the spot next to him and Lovino feigned annoyance before sitting down.

Francis draped his arms around the two boy's shoulders. "Another fourth of July with you guys!"

From next to them, Lovino snickerd. "Sap."

Francis smirked. "Don't worry Lovino! We didn't forget about cute little ol' you!" He leaned over Antonio and gave Lovi a big fat kiss on the cheek.

Lovino's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he pulled away. "EW GROSS!"

Francis, Gilbert and Antonio were already laughing though and the Italian continued to rub his cheek with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"What's going on here?" A newly dressed Alfred smiled with Matthew and Arthur strolling up behind him.

"Francis kissed Lovino!" Gilbert huffed out and doubled over again. Lovino noticed a few parents glancing their way and he yelled, "STOP LYING GILBERT!" Which just set the boys off for a third time.

Matthew grimaced as he adjusted his sweatshirt, the sunscreen not quite doing it's job that day. "Don't people usually kiss on New Years?"

Arthur crossed his arms. "Don't look at me." He then snatched the America Flag patterned blanket out of Alfred's hands and spread it across the ground. Alfred plopped down and grabbed the two blonde's hands, pulling them down on either side of him.

As the other boys chatted next to him, Alfred turned to Arthur. "So what was your favorite part of today?"

Arthur stared up at the sky, trying to pick out constellations. "I don't know. Playing Marco Polo and just getting out of the pool illegally was nice."

Alfred waved a hand. "Well my favorite part was when we were fighting over the crocodile floaty and I shoved you off! When you came up out of the water, your face was priceless!" He chuckled just thinking about it.

Arthur scowled and shoved his shoulder. "I-I let you push me off!"

The American crossed his arms and smiled slyly. "Suuuurrre you did Artie."

Completely ignoring the newfound argument next to him, Gilbert conducted a quick inspection of Matthew's cheeks. "Sun gotchya didn't it?"

Matthew squinted his eyes. "Not nearly as bad as you! You look cooked! Does it hurt?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Psh nah." He boasted, but held back a whimper when Francis tightened his grip on his shoulder. Matthew noticed the grimace and looked away.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That you're burnt?"

"Dude!" Gilbert chuckled. "It's not like you control the sun. Besides God, I'm like the only one awesome enough to do that!"

Matthew blinked. "You think you could control the sun?"

"Sure! If I wanted to!"

"But it burnt you. You wanted to be burnt?"

"Uh, yes!"

Matthew's lips couldn't help but twitch into a smile at his pathological liar of a friend. "Oh okay." Gilbert grinned back.

Francis and Antonio were also in a discussion, as Lovino chatted away with Emma and Elizabeta on the other side.

"Ya know, watching fireworks is suppose to be romantic," Francis said and leaned into Toni.

Antonio stared out at the campfire a little ways in front of them. "Really?"

Francis rolled his eyes and sat back up. "Yeah, haven't you seen any movie ever?"

Antonio shrugged and pulled his hood over his head as he watched his mother greet his brother at the gate. His brother often showed up late, and Antonio was surprised he actually came to hangout with the neighborhood families rather than stay out with his friends. Glancing down at Arthur, he noted that none of his brothers shows up except for Peter, who spent the whole day with their mother.

"Sure, I've seen loooots of movies!"

"But you've never seen any with fireworks? "

Antonio held a hand to his chin. "Maybeee.."

The French boy just sighed. "Ugh nevermind." Then he turned to Gilbert to make the same comment.

Antonio just sat there in silence for a moment before tapping Lovino's shoulder. He turned to him in his oversized purple sweater with his arms wrapped around his knees and a questioning look on his face. "What? Can't you see I'm talking to Emma?"

Antonio gave a side smile and waved at Emma, who happily waved back. He then looked back at Lovino and said, "You know what I just learned?"

"Huh? "

"Fireworks are suppose to be romantic."

At that very moment, the first firework went off, bursting into a giant green explosion above their heads. Lovino stared at him for a moment, before puffing out his cheeks. "Yeah right." Was all he said before standing up and walking away.

* * *

 **Relatively quick update! As soon as my Holiday Break was over, I finally got motivation to write this! Funny how I love to torture myself because now school is killing me.**

 **Anyways, I hate to make promises on quick updates, but I already have ideas for the next two chapter whereas I usually have writers block, so hopefully I can work.**

 **And I know I never said it before (I think at least) but I think it's pretty clear that this story takes place in America. (Sorry! It's all I know!) And sorry if things seem a bit off, there was a four month time skip from last chapter so some characters like Matthew have been evolving offscreen.**

 **~Iwilldrinkthiscoffee**

 **1/9/18**


End file.
